Unprecedented bribery charges, farewells, separation, failed union, monumental mergers and record-breaking IPOs, along with a healthy dose of online happenings in the form of spat and lessons in customer care, corporate India saw it all in 2024.
With Ola Corporate, aims to provide services to 10,000 firms by next year
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra has once again found himself at the center of a controversy, this time for his comments about Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Kamra has been a controversial figure for years, with his comedy often targeting politicians and other public figures. This latest incident has led to a backlash from Shinde's supporters, who have vandalized the venue of Kamra's show. Kamra has a history of making controversial remarks, including heckling a TV anchor on a flight and making comments about the judiciary.
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Ola's rival Uber is trying to set up a local engineering centre in Bengaluru.
Four companies - Rajesh Exports, Hyundai Global Motors Company, Ola Electric Mobility and Reliance New Energy - are eligible for receiving benefits under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced chemistry cell battery storage, the heavy industries ministry said on Thursday. The allotment was made for a total of 50 GWh of battery capacity to the four successful bidders. These firms, the ministry said, will receive incentives under India's Rs 18,100 crore programme to boost local battery cell production.
Bengaluru-headquartered electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy is all set to file its draft red herring prospectus within the second week of September to the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its maiden initial public offering (IPO), in which it is expected to raise over $450 million. On Tuesday, the fourth-largest electric two-wheeler maker in the country by volume raised Rs 600 crore from its existing investor, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), catapulting itself into a unicorn with a valuation of $1.3 billion.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the government will arrange identity cards and registration on the e-Shram portal to assist 1 crore gig workers. Presenting the Union Budget 2025-26, the finance minister also said a scheme for the socio-economic upliftment of urban workers will be implemented.
'We handle close to 3 million rides daily, making us one of the largest players in this segment'
Tariff cap offers Ola relief in battle with Uber. Though it might hurt their earnings, Ola believes the Karnataka High Court's judgement levels the playing field with Uber.
Ola Cabs, which started out in 2010, has raised over $1 billion of funds.
According to a source SoftBank is in favour of Ola acquiring the Indian unit of Uber, but the finer details of the deal are being discussed
Cab aggregators caught between showing profitability to investors, increasing their network and dabbling in areas such as food ordering have seen a major blow to their primary business.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
Uber, Ola's main competitor in Australia, currently operates in 19 cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.
Ola said it has obtained licences to operate in South Wales and Greater Manchester, and will launch operations in South Wales by September.
Ola said it will not charge commission from drivers for the first two months after the launch, allowing them to retain 100 per cent of their earnings from the platform.
The new tranche of funding raises Ola's valuation to $5.74 billion from $4.45 billion in October 2017
The two new markets are overwhelmingly dominated by US ride-hailing giant Uber, which has been able to edge out local start-ups
From powering mobile devices, US chip designer Qualcomm has tied up with Ola Electric to power its electric scooters. Qualcomm is providing the key 4G connected octa core android platform which provides connectivity, computing capabilities and enables rich immersive displays with power saving software.
'80% of start ups fail because they don't have a support system to help them in the very early phase.' 'It's not just an idea that takes an entrepreneur through the initial three years of journey.' 'What plays a definitive role in making a start-up successful is idea+team+capital+mentors+access to a larger ecosystem.'
Your next ride via the Ola app in an auto rickshaw could be cashless.
In the UK, Ola is the only app that offers black cabs and private hire vehicles, giving both the driver-partners as well as the users, more choice.
The three companies - Ola, Hyundai and Kia - will co-create solutions to operate and manage fleet vehicles.
As a 75-year-old septuagenarian, Bajaj Auto has adapted itself as a nod to competition, regulations, and changing buyer preference. It will continue to do so, said its managing director Rajiv Bajaj at the launch of the all-new Pulsar 250. This was in response to a question on the company's preparedness for disruption by electric two-wheeler start-ups.
Industry watchers say while it's completely possible for a firm like SoftBank to step in and take control of Ola, it's usually one of the least favoured options.
Around 500 people have signed up on Ola's platform for the Bike Taxis service.
'Ola in India makes money on every ride. Our focus over the past couple of years has been to keep growing the market and our share in the market and build up on sustainable business,' says co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal.
There is also lack of mandate from the government on adoption of electric mobility after ambitious talks of moving all new automobile sales to electric by 2030
With regard to his investment in Ola, Bansal said that on the one hand, the ride-hailing major had emerged as a global force in the mobility space and on the other it continued to build deeper for various needs of a billion Indians through its platform. This is the largest funding by an individual in the app cab.
Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf and Hitesh Harisinghani speak to millennials to find out if the ease of ride-sharing apps like Ola and Uber was a reason for them not buying a car.
Hero MotoCorp anticipates a big rebound in two-wheeler (2W) sales in rural India over the next four to eight quarters, driven by favourable factors such as a decent monsoon, rising crop prices, improved employment conditions, and increasing consumer confidence, its chief executive officer (CEO) Niranjan Gupta said on Wednesday. Amid tepid rural sales, he stated that there is a "strong case" for GST (goods and services tax) on entry-level two-wheelers, which are under 125 CC, to be moved down from 28 per cent to 18 per cent as they are used by "masses".
Ola Credit will give customers 7 days of credit so they can keep booking Ola cabs without worrying about having sufficient cash
Kunal Shah has funded over 266 startups including Razorpay, Snapdeal, Zetwork, BlueSmart, Unacademy, Bliss Club, and Spinny, amongst others.
Cab-hailing service Ola is on the fast track on the back of a $500 million funding.
Automobile makers in India are embracing taxi-hailing apps such as Uber and Ola, hoping to ride on their expansion to sell more cars, a contrarian view to companies in Western markets that fear a drop in car sales due to them
Lithium-ion cells, primarily imported from China, are likely to become cheaper following punitive tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese battery cells.
The state government says Ola was using its existing cab aggregator licence to promote bike taxi services.
Ola has raised $400 million from investors led by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner's DST Global.
Ola competes with Uber Technologies in India.
IMAGES from the Premier League matches played on Sunday
