Ola Cabs Makes Strategic Shift from Google Maps to Ola Maps, Saves ₹100 Crore Annually
- ByStartupStory | July 6, 2024
Ride-hailing giant Ola Cabs has announced a significant transition from Google Maps to its own Ola Maps, resulting in substantial annual savings of approximately ₹100 crore. Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola Cabs, shared the news on social media platform X, highlighting the company’s move following its recent departure from Microsoft’s Azure services.
“After Azure’s exit last month, we’ve fully exited Google Maps. We used to spend ₹100 crore a year but we’ve made that zero this month by moving completely to our in-house Ola Maps! Check your Ola app and update if needed,” Aggarwal announced.
He also outlined upcoming features for Ola Maps, including street view, neural radiance fields (NERFs), indoor images, 3D maps, and drone mapping capabilities, promising enhanced user experiences in the coming months.
Ola Cabs initiated this strategic shift following its complete transition of operations to Krutrim, its proprietary AI company, severing ties with Microsoft’s Azure within three months. The company had previously signaled its intent to integrate Krutrim AI into its cloud services and mapping solutions during the launch phase.
In October 2021, Ola bolstered its mapping capabilities with the acquisition of GeoSpoc, a Pune-based geospatial services company. This acquisition has enabled Ola Maps to cater effectively to the mapping needs of its primary ride-hailing application. Furthermore, Ola plans to integrate Ola Maps into its electric two-wheelers through a software update slated for January.
On the electric vehicle front, Ola Electric is currently in the preliminary stages of research on solid-state batteries for its scooters. Aggarwal expressed optimism about integrating these advanced batteries, to be manufactured at Ola’s new gigafactory in Tamil Nadu, by next year. This initiative aligns with the Indian government’s push for local battery manufacturing under its incentive scheme.
“We are in very early stages of our experimentation on solid-state batteries,” Aggarwal commented.
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