Ola Electric’s stock crashed to a fresh all-time low on December 17, extending the brutal slide in the EV maker’s market value just months after its high-profile listing. The shares fell over 5% intraday on the BSE to hit a new low of ₹32.68, before closing marginally higher at ₹32.80, still down 4.87% versus the previous close. At this level, Ola Electric’s market capitalisation stands at about ₹14,520 crore (around $1.61 billion), a far cry from the euphoric debut when the stock listed at ₹76 and later touched a 52-week high of ₹100.4 on the same date last year.
Stock at Record Low
On a year-to-date basis, the stock has now cracked more than 57%, and is down about 64% from its listing price, underlining how sharply investor sentiment has turned on India’s most talked-about EV startup. The fresh low came amid heavy volumes as traders reacted to back-to-back promoter stake sales and lingering concerns around profitability, execution risks and the overall risk-off mood toward new-age tech listings. Market watchers say the stock has been under consistent pressure as investors reassess lofty expectations against the company’s actual financial performance and cash burn.
Promoter Stake Sale Adds Pressure
Thursday’s slide closely followed a bulk/block deal in which cofounder and promoter Bhavish Aggarwal offloaded about 2.6 crore shares, or roughly 0.6% stake in Ola Electric, raising around ₹92 crore. The sale, executed at around ₹34–35 per share, came on top of earlier monetisation moves and immediately triggered concerns about promoter confidence and near-term supply overhang in the stock. Although such deals are often picked up by institutional buyers, the optics of a promoter trimming stake at multi-month lows weighed heavily on sentiment through the session.
Read this: Amid Losing Market Share, Bhavish Aggarwal Sells ₹92 Cr Worth of Ola Electric Shares to Repay Debt
Linked to ₹260 Crore Promoter Loan
In its clarification, the company said the share sale was part of a broader promoter-level exercise to fully release pledged shares linked to a ₹260 crore loan. Over the last year, Aggarwal had pledged around 3.93% of Ola Electric’s equity as collateral for this personal/promoter loan, a structure that investors often view as risky because falling share prices can trigger margin calls and forced selling. By using bulk-deal proceeds to repay the entire ₹260 crore, Aggarwal has now unwound all share pledges, meaning no promoter shares of Ola Electric remain encumbered.
Company statements and exchange filings stress that this is a clean-up move rather than a sign of weakening commitment. Even after the sale, the promoter group continues to hold roughly one-third of the company, and management is positioning the “zero-pledge” status as a governance positive that removes a key structural overhang going forward.
Why the Market Still Reacted Negatively
Despite the explanation, the timing and optics of the sale at depressed levels spooked investors. For many public market participants, any promoter share sale — especially one tied to personal debt — raises questions about liquidity needs, risk appetite and internal confidence, regardless of how the proceeds are ultimately used. With Ola Electric already trading near record lows and sentiment fragile, the news added fuel to the sell-off and amplified intraday volatility.
Analysts say that in the short term, such events can reinforce bearish narratives and attract speculative short-term selling, even if, on paper, the removal of pledged shares reduces long-term risk. The share price reaction captures this tension: structurally, a zero-pledge promoter book is cleaner, but tactically, public markets tend to punish any sign of promoter-level leverage or stake trimming until the dust settles.
Broader Context Around Ola Electric
Ola Electric went public as one of India’s flagship EV stories, riding on strong brand recall, aggressive expansion in the scooter market and government incentives for electric mobility. However, concerns about persistent losses, high capex, pricing pressure, competition in the two-wheeler EV space and policy uncertainty have weighed on valuations through 2025. The stock’s sharp fall from its ₹100-plus peak to the low-30s band reflects that investors are now scrutinising execution, profitability timelines and demand resilience far more closely than during the IPO hype cycle.
