India's Ola Electric ventures abroad, to enter Nepal next quarter

BENGALURU (Reuters) - SoftBank Group-backed Ola is looking to take its e-scooters global, starting with Nepal, as it seeks to tap into a growing international market for electric vehicles

The company will expand further into Latin America, ASEAN and the European Union, it said in a statement on Thursday.

It has signed a partnership agreement with CG Motors in Nepal to distribute its Ola S1 e-scooters.

Ola Electric, valued at $5 billion, has made inroads into India's EV market with over 80,000 electric scooters. The ride-hailing firm said last month it will start producing electric cars in 2024.

"Ola is committed to creating the EV paradigm for the rest of the world by building half of the vehicles that the world needs right here in India," its Founder and Chief Executive Officer Bhavish Aggarwal said.

Ola had planned to go public in the first half of 2022, but has since postponed the plan, amid a volatility in the market and lackluster listings of some start-ups in India this year.

(Reporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)