Bhavish Aggarwal is a man who moves fast. Sometimes, perhaps, a little too fast for the people around him. If you’ve spent any time on Indian tech Twitter lately, you’ve seen the name. He’s the guy who built a ride-hailing giant, decided to manufacture electric scooters in a massive "Futurefactory," and then launched an AI unicorn called Krutrim—all while picking public fights with comedians and global tech titans.
People call him the Elon Musk of India.
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It’s a label that feels almost inevitable. Like Musk, Aggarwal is obsessed with "first principles" thinking. He wants to own the entire stack. He doesn't just want to sell you a scooter; he wants to build the battery, the software, and the charging network. But honestly, if you ask Aggarwal himself, he’s kind of over the comparison. He’s famously joked that Tesla is for the West and Ola is for "the rest."
The Making of a Disruptor
Aggarwal’s story didn't start with rockets or electric cars. It started with a bad cab ride. After graduating from IIT Bombay and a stint at Microsoft Research, he co-founded Ola Cabs in 2011. Back then, getting a taxi in an Indian city was a nightmare of negotiation and broken meters. Ola changed that.
He didn't just compete with Uber; he fought them to a standstill in the Indian market. That’s where the "Musk-like" reputation for relentless aggression first took root. He’s known for a work ethic that borders on the extreme. There are stories—some legendary, some cautionary—about him tearing up presentations over a missing page number or making employees run laps around the factory for minor mistakes.
It’s an intense, high-pressure environment. You either love the mission or you leave. This "hardcore" culture is a direct mirror of the Musk playbook. Aggarwal has even introduced policies like "Kya Chal Raha Hai?"—a mandatory weekly reporting system that echoes the flat, data-driven communication Musk demands at Tesla.
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The comparison really exploded when Aggarwal pivoted toward hardware. Building an app is one thing. Building a 500-acre factory in Tamil Nadu to churn out millions of electric two-wheelers is another beast entirely.
The Ola Electric Gamble
When Ola Electric launched, it was pure chaos. The hype was astronomical. Then came the delays. Then the software glitches. Then the viral videos of scooters catching fire or reversing at 50 km/h.
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Critics jumped on him. They said he was overpromising and underdelivering—another classic Musk trait. But look at the numbers today. Despite a plummeting market share in late 2024 and 2025 (dropping from nearly 50% to around 27%), Ola Electric remains a dominant force in the Indian EV landscape. They went public in 2024, making Aggarwal one of the world’s youngest self-made billionaires.
The AI Pivot: Krutrim
In 2023, just as the world was reeling from ChatGPT, Aggarwal launched Krutrim. He claimed it was India's first AI unicorn. He wanted an LLM that understood the nuance of Indian languages and culture, not just a Western model trained on Silicon Valley data.
It was a bold move. It was also polarizing. Tech enthusiasts pointed out that early versions of Krutrim seemed suspiciously similar to existing models. Aggarwal didn't blink. He doubled down, announcing plans to build AI chips and data centers. He’s essentially trying to do what Musk is doing with xAI, but with a distinctly Indian flavor.
The Friction and the "Kurta-Pyjama" Philosophy
There is a fundamental tension in being the Elon Musk of India. While Aggarwal shares Musk’s "techno-optimism," he is fiercely nationalistic about his tech. He’s pushed for a "Vocal for Local" approach that sometimes borders on protectionism.
He’s famously ditched Microsoft Azure and AWS, moving Ola’s entire workload to his own "Krutrim Cloud." He claims it’s about data sovereignty. Critics say it’s about control.
Aggarwal once said, “We prefer the kurta-pyjama over a leather jacket any day.” It was a direct jab at the Silicon Valley aesthetic. He wants to prove that India can build global-scale technology without just copying the West.
But this independence comes at a cost. His public spat with comedian Kunal Kamra over service quality issues at Ola Electric showed a side of him that many found thin-skinned. When users complained about "scooter graveyards" (heaps of broken-down Ola S1s waiting for parts), Aggarwal’s response was often defensive rather than empathetic.
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Is the Comparison Fair?
Honestly, it depends on what part of Musk you’re looking at.
If you mean the visionary who isn't afraid to risk it all on a "moonshot" project, then yes. Aggarwal has fundamentally changed how Indians move. He’s forced legacy players like Bajaj and TVS to accelerate their own EV plans. That’s a massive win for the environment and the economy.
But if you mean the cultural icon, the gap is wide. Musk operates on a planetary scale—Mars, Starlink, X. Aggarwal is laser-focused on the "Global South." He’s building for the person in a Tier-2 Indian city who needs a reliable, cheap electric scooter to get to work.
The 2026 Reality Check
As we move through 2026, the honeymoon phase for Indian startups is over. The "growth at all costs" era has been replaced by a demand for "value with governance." Aggarwal is currently trying to restructure his various entities—Ola Consumer, Ola Electric, and Krutrim—into a more cohesive conglomerate.
He’s facing real pressure. Investors from the early days of Ola Cabs are looking for exits. The competition in the EV space is getting smarter. Hero and Ather are closing the gap.
Whether he becomes India’s Musk or a cautionary tale of over-expansion depends on his ability to fix the "boring" stuff: customer service, supply chains, and reliable hardware.
Actionable Insights for the Future
If you’re watching the Indian tech space, here is what actually matters regarding the Elon Musk of India and the ecosystem he’s built:
- Watch the Chips: Keep an eye on Krutrim’s silicon ambitions. If Aggarwal actually succeeds in designing Indian AI chips, it changes the country's semiconductor standing.
- Service Over Speed: For Ola Electric to survive, the narrative must shift from "how many units sold" to "how many units stayed on the road."
- The Conglomerate Move: The proposed IPO of Ola Consumer (the ride-hailing side) will be a massive test of whether the market still believes in Aggarwal’s multi-industry vision.
- Nationalism vs. Globalism: Observe how he navigates the entry of Tesla into India. If Tesla finally sets up shop in Mumbai or Bengaluru, the "Tesla for the West, Ola for the Rest" slogan will be put to the ultimate test.
Aggarwal is a polarizer. He is a builder. He is, in many ways, exactly what the Indian startup ecosystem looks like right now: ambitious, messy, and loud. He might not be Elon Musk, but he is certainly the only Bhavish Aggarwal we’ve got.