Ola Electric inducts former Hyundai and Tata Motors exec onto its board

B V R Subbu currently manages a boutique strategy-consulting firm, advising global PE funds. He is also on the boards of various automotive and tech firms

Ola Electric Mobility (Ola Electric), the ride-hailing firm's electric vehicle arm, has appointed former top Tata Motors and Hyundai Motors India executive B V R Subbu as a member of the company's Board of Directors. Ola said Subbu brings with him a wealth of experience that spans across four decades. At Tata Motors, he held multiple leadership responsibilities across the vehicles and spares marketing, service and sales finance functions. As the president of Hyundai Motor India, Ola said, he built the company to a position of pre-eminence in the Indian automotive industry.

“Subbu has played a key role in building and establishing some of India’s iconic automotive products like the ubiquitous Hyundai Santro and Tata 2213 (truck),” said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola. “His deep understanding of the mobility space and consumers will be very valuable to us in our journey to build electric mobility for India and the world. We look forward to working closely with him and benefitting from his experience and mentorship.”

Subbu currently manages a boutique strategy-consulting firm, Beyond Visual Range, advising global private equity funds. He also serves as a member of the boards of various automotive and technology companies.

Ola is wooing a lot of top industry veterans whose business experience of building global businesses and deep understanding of emerging markets and opportunities will be valuable to Ola Electric in executing their plans. In October this year, Ola Electric appointed former top General Motors executive Jaime Ardila as a member of the company's Board of Directors. In May this year, Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, invested an undisclosed sum in Ola Electric as part of a Series A round of funding. Tata is also an early investor in Ola’s parent company ANI Technologies. The same month, Ola Electric appointed Arun Sarin, former CEO of British telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc, as an independent director on its board. Sarin also serves on the boards of Cisco Systems, Accenture, Charles Schwab and ANI.

This year the government announced that the goods and services tax (GST) on electric vehicle (EV) will be reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent and the government will provide additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on the loans taken to purchase EVs. The government has also committed Rs 10,000 crore on FAME 2 (Faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles) which is expected to invigorate the EV industry and throw up opportunities for young ventures such as Ola Electric and Ather.

Ola Electric said it is working towards enabling sustainable mobility for billions.The company is currently running several pilots across India to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions. The firm said it is committed to bringing 1 million electric vehicles on Indian roads by 2022.