Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal praises rival Ather Energy on listing day: 'Milestone for the Indian EV industry'

OIa founder Bhavish Aggarwal and Ather Energy co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta (Image credit: X)

OIa founder Bhavish Aggarwal on Tuesday congratulated rival electric vehicles (EV) company Ather Energy and its co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta after it made its debut at the stock market. With this, Ather Energy became the second electric two-wheeler company to go public after Ola Electric Mobility floated its Rs 6,145-crore IPO last August.

"Congrats to Tarun Mehta and the whole Ather Energy team on this milestone for the Indian EV industry!" Aggarwal shared on X. "Let’s together make India the global EV hub."

Social media users praised the Ola chief's treatment of his rival.

"EV journey was always supposed to be a collaborative effort. Good to see Ola Electric and Bhavish Aggarwal praising Ather Energy on their listing day," commented X user Jo Kar (@i_am_gustakh). "More players, more energy! Great to see Ola setting the pace and Ather Energy jumping in!" wrote Ayush (@ayushhhsethiya).

Ather Energy was the first mainboard public issue of the current financial year. The initial public offer (IPO) is a combination of a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 2,626 crore and an offer-for-sale of 1.1 crore equity shares by promoters and other shareholders.

Speaking about the big day, Mehta wrote on X, "Big, big day for us at Ather. Grateful for every twist and turn that got us here. Over the last 11 years, each milestone felt like the most critical moment ever because it truly was at the time. But today, we pause and realise: the road ahead is even bigger. An IPO isn’t just a celebration. It is a test. Of your business, your team, your vision. It demands proof of what’s already built and belief in what’s coming next. We’re ready for that."

He added that Ather Energy had started as an engineering project and is now a pan-India brand. "We’ve built the engine: a product engine, a service engine, a manufacturing engine, and a supply chain that delivers consistently. Now it’s time to feed that engine and scale," the Ather CEO said. "As we become a public company, to the lakhs of shareholders who’ve bought into this vision, thank you. We promise a fulfilling journey ahead, and one that we hope is value accretive for all."