Ola Electric's Futurefactory to be run by 10,000+ women
What's the story
Indian electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Ola Electric's Chairman and Group CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, has announced that the company's EV manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu will be run entirely by women. Aggarwal claims this facility, dubbed Futurefactory, will be the largest all-women factory in the world. Moreover, at peak capacity, it would employ over 10,000 women. Here are more details.
Self-sufficiency
Aatmanirbhar Bharat requires Aatmanirbhar women: Aggarwal
In a blog post announcing the development, Aggarwal quoted Swami Vivekananda before saying, "An Aatmanirbhar Bharat requires Aatmanirbhar women." He said that he was proud to announce that the first batch of the all-women team has been welcomed this week and at full capacity, Futurefactory will have over 10,000 women staffers, making the Futurefactory the world's only all-women automotive manufacturing facility.
Investment
Ola Electric announced Rs. 2,400 crore investment for Futurefactory
Aggarwal said this is the first in a series of initiatives to create an inclusive workforce and provide economic opportunities for women. Ola claims to have invested significantly in the training and upskilling of women in the skills required to be responsible for the production of vehicles. Notably, last year, Ola announced an Rs. 2,400 crore investment for its Tamil Nadu-based electric two-wheeler factory.
Claims
Futurefactory is set to produce 15% of world's two-wheelers
Once it is complete, Ola Electric claims that the Futurefactory will be capable of churning out over one crore units every year. According to the company, that is approximately 15% of the entire world's two-wheeler production. "For India to be the world's manufacturing hub, we must prioritize upskilling and generating employment for our women workforce," Aggarwal said.
Teething troubles
Ola S1 scooter sales were hampered by technical issues
Last month, Ola Electric launched its first electric scooter called the Ola S1. However, due to technical issues, the company wasn't able to start sales for the vehicle on its website as planned on September 8. Aggarwal took to Twitter to apologize and promised that customers will be able to purchase their vehicles starting September 15 at 8:00 am.