First of all lets understand the Power Backup business in India. India’s power back up is split between Diesel Generators and Battery-Backup business.

Diesel Generators command a 65% share with Cummins India, Kirloskar Oil Engines and Greaves Cotton Ltd. being the big players.

Top 4 Diesel Generator Manufacturers in India:

While the battery Backup business has just a 35% share with Exide, Amara Raja and HBL being the top players.

Why is Diesel Generators dominating the Power Backup Business in India?

Diesel generators dominate the power backup market in…

India as it is used in running large and continuous power over extended periods in industrial, commercial, and remote settings.

If you compare the Revenue & Profit difference between a Diesel Generator Company and Battery-Power Backup company you can clearly see that Battery Backup companies enjoy a much higher Revenue and Profit.

Diesel generators are used in factories, hospitals, data centres and construction sites where power needs are substantial. Diesel Generators are:

• Large
• Off-Grid systems and operate independently.
• Have lower initial cost
• Have high fuel (operational) costs

While Battery Power Backup systems are used in Residential and Agricultural purposes and their operation time is determined by the load and have a limited period of operation.

Most residential use is a small Diesel Generator between 2kVA to 7kVA Generators. Ola’s 9kWh is equivalent to a 6kVA Diesel Generator. But Ola Shakti will give similar performance, on full load, only for 1.5hrs while Diesel Generator can keep working as long as more fuel is added to it.

But the point to note is that Ola’s 9kWh is sufficient for most house owners and if they need more they can always plug-n-play (add) more Ola Shaktis to the system.

Can Ola Shakti disrupt the existing Battery Power Backup AND small Diesel Generator business… this year itself!

• Ola has already has started manufacturing the Li-Ion Bharat Cells and needs just to add an inverter motherboard on top of the battery to get the Power Backup system running.
• By showcasing the outer side box we can safely assume that Ola has also designed the internal motherboard, circuits and chipset components.
• Although it didn’t show a WORKING prototype… lets assume Ola Shakti is still a work in progress.
• But designing, printing and mounting an Inverter Motherboard is not too difficult a task considering you already have a similar size recharging-battery up and running.
• It is much more difficult for a company to manufacture Li-Ion batteries. It’s a mission that is almost impossible. That is why not a single other company has not dared to manufacture Li-Ion batteries in India other than Ola Electric. Even Ather Energy which was conceived as a Battery Company decided making batteries was too difficult a task for them and they pivoted into making electric scooters. Making an inverter for its own battery is a walk in the park Ola Electric.
• Ola Electric has given itself 2-3 months to perfect the system and manufacture enough to “ship” them out by Makar Sankrati (14 Jan 2026).
• Since these systems are not moved around much there will not be much loose connections or  frequent request for “service”.
• There might not be much as much roadblocks from regulatory authorities as is in the case of automobile business. (But by the way the rivals fear Ola, have badmouthed it and are using their media to pile pressure on Bhavish Aggarwal on any random or silly issue… you cannot be too sure). One media headline was that Bhavish shouts at inefficient engineers, other headline said he doesn’t attend board meetings, latest headline is there is too much Work Pressure at Ola Electric.
• Media why this Kolaveri Di? Media reported that Hero MotorCorp staff “JOINED” Ola Electric… but never mentioned that employee “QUIT” Hero MotorCorp. But when one Ola Electric joined TVS motors it was REPORTED that the employ QUIT Ola Electric. Why the difference in TONE? Why this Kolaveri Di? Isnt employ leaving one company and joining another company a process in life? Infosys and TCS has the highest turnover of engineers in India… does that make them bad companies?

Will Ola Shakti deliver on time?

Considering all the above factors it most probably might ship on Makar Sankrati or 14 January 2026. Even if Ola Shakti gets delayed by a month or two its ok. In manufacturing delays happen especially if it is a technologically innovative product and it definitely is innovative product.

Even the first Apple iPhone was delayed and not fully operational and had buggy software so Steve Jobs had to use multiple iPhones… on the sly… to showcase different features. It is very common for a new and technologically innovative product to get delayed.

People who pre-order technologically innovative products should be aware of this risk.

Ola’s BESS will compete with the Commercial size or bigger size diesel generators and will need to be integrated with either a Solar or Wind power system.

Thus we can expect the Diesel Generator Business to be slightly safer and at least a decade away from Ola Shakti’s disruption.