Ola exits Google Maps, to save Rs 100 cr per year with in-house maps.
Ola Cabs has transitioned from using Google Maps to its in-house Ola Maps, eliminating a Rs 100 crore annual expense.
After leaving Microsoft's Azure last month, Ola Cabs has now fully transitioned from Google Maps to its in-house Ola Maps, according to a post by founder-CEO Bhavish Aggarwal on X. Aggarwal mentioned that the company used to spend Rs 100 crore annually on Google Maps, a cost now eliminated with the switch to Ola Maps.
Aggarwal also announced that Ola Cabs will introduce several new features in the coming months, including street view, neural radiance fields (NERFs), indoor images, 3D maps, and drone maps.
In October 2021, Ola acquired GeoSpoc, a Pune-based geospatial services company. Ola Maps now meets the mapping needs of its primary ride-hailing application. Additionally, the company plans to integrate Ola Maps into its electric two-wheelers through a software update in January. In May, Aggarwal announced the company’s decision to migrate its entire workload from Microsoft Azure to its own cloud platform, Krutrim.
This decision followed LinkedIn, a Microsoft-owned company, removing Aggarwal's post on 'pronoun illness,' in which he criticized the platform for enforcing a 'forced ideology' regarding gender pronouns. This move resulted in Microsoft losing over Rs 100 crore in revenue from India, as Ola was a major customer. Aggarwal also invited other developers to leave Azure, offering them a full year of free cloud usage with the condition that they do not return to Azure afterward.
Aggarwal later emphasized the need for India to develop its own comprehensive technology stack, including AI models, cloud infrastructure, data centers, and chips, to lead the AI revolution and reduce reliance on big tech firms. He highlighted that while India generates 20 percent of the world's data, only 3 percent is stored within the country.
"Data sovereignty means that both the location and control should be in India, not just the real estate," Aggarwal said. "We need to have our own cloud technology stack to control the data."
"Without building our own full stack, we won't be able to harness the power of economic productivity and cultural strength of our civilization," he added.
In 2017, Ola partnered with Microsoft Azure to develop a connected vehicle platform for car manufacturers globally, with Azure providing cloud services for Ola. In FY23, Microsoft's revenue from its India operations increased by 39 percent year-on-year to Rs 19,230 crore.
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