I am asking this to Ola Electric’s 17 lakh shareholders: Do you even know why the founder is back to raising money mere 9 months after IPO, when 52% of the money he had raised remains untouched? I have the answer that no analyst or media is telling you. .. FACTS, below. - Ratings agency ICRA has confirmed that Rs 2.8k crore of the Rs 5.5k crore Ola Electric had raised via fresh issuance in the IPO remains unused, invested in bank FDs that have earned OE big crores in interest income - Of this, Rs 1.2k crore was specifically to be used for expanding the capacity of its cell plant from the initial test capacity of 1.4GWh to 5GWh, which is 3.6x, all by Feb 2025 (promised in the IPO papers) None of that has happened. .. But, this gets worse. - In its IPO papers, OE also promised that after reaching a 5GWh capacity in Feb 2025, it would further increase to 6.4GWh by Apr 2025. That has obviously not happened - Also, under the PLI scheme, he is bound to scale operational capacity to 20GWh by the end of 2026 .. The problem? The founder, Bhavish, now says that the 5GWh capacity will be achieved by end of 2025. And what about 6.4GWh? No comments. And there is no chance that 20GWh goal will be achieved by end of 2026. Personally, I would be surprised if it even happens by 2027 end. And this results into TWO BIG MONEY PROBLEMS. .. One. With targets set to be missed, OE has no chance of receiving the incentives out of the Rs 18.1k crore PLI scheme for cells. Two. Operationalisation of its cell plant and actual deploymemnt of cells production into its scooters and bikes was supposed to shore up margins. However, so far, whatever test cells the 1.4GWh plant built (completed 14 months ago in March 2024) produces have not been passed by the Govt for deployment in vehicles. And, with every day, that promise of better margins is losing credibility. .. Taking all of this into account, ICRA has cut OE’s credit rating massively to BBB- (NEGATIVE). Means? Money to expand the cell plants will now have to be borrowed at much higher interest rates. And it’s in a bid to avoid those costly loans that Bhavish is out to raise more money in just 9 months of IPO fundraise, even though more than half of that money remains untouched. Did you know this?
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