Pledge, Sell, Pledge Again: Bhavish Agarwal & Ola Electric’s Dilemma

Ola Electric’s ₹1,000 Cr rights issue comes as the EV maker continues to burn cash despite improving market share.

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For close to two years, Bhavish Aggarwal has been stuck between a rock and a hard place. All to keep Ola Electric and his other ventures going without giving up control of the company he built. 

Between November 2024 and March 2025, Aggarwal pledged Ola Electric shares to raise debt for Krutrim Data Centre, the AI infrastructure and services company that he founded in 2023. 

Then in December 2025, he sold part of his stake in Ola Electric to repay the ₹260 Cr loan that covered the pledge and release the encumbered shares, selling 3.93% of his holding in the company. 

At the time, Ola Electric said repaying the loan meant the company should operate with zero pledge overhang. But ten months later, another pledge is here.  On 30 September, Aggarwal pledged 20 Cr Ola Electric shares, or 4.32% of the company, against non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issued by Krutrim Data Centre. 

At the time, Ola Electric said repaying the loan meant the company should operate with zero pledge overhang. But ten months later, another pledge is here. 

On 30 September, Aggarwal pledged 20 Cr Ola Electric shares, or 4.32% of the company, against non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issued by Krutrim Data Centre. 

CTL Trusteeship holds the pledge on behalf of the debenture holders. 

Neither the filings nor Ola have disclosed how much Krutrim Data Centre is raising through these debentures.

What is clear is that this is a bigger pledge than before — 20 Cr shares (4.32%) against 17.3 Cr shares (3.93%) that secured a ₹260 Cr loan in the previous instance.

Ola Electric said that the pledge is solely meant to fund his subscription to the company’s upcoming ₹1,000 Cr rights issue, and that no shares are being sold, and that Aggarwal will invest on the same terms as every other shareholder

Shriram Subramanian, founder of advisory firm InGovern Research, said that the EV firm scores poorly on what investors call the “say-do” ratio: how often a company does what it says. The situation around........

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