Homegrown Blusmart Mobility has secured debt to acquire a massive fleet of electric vehicles.
According to media reports, government-owned financial entity Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has sanctioned a loan worth $75 million to Blusmart Mobility. The company competes with Uber and Ola Cabs in cab aggregation services. However, Blusmart operates only electric cars.
Funds secured from PFC will be used to lease 5,000 electric cars and 1,000 cargo vehicles. The first tranche of the loan has been disbursed, and the first batch of cars acquired through the loan are also plying Delhi roads.
Blusmart claims to have the largest fleet of electric cabs and network of charging stations. The company currently operates only in two cities, Delhi and Bengaluru, but will look to aggressively expand into other cities. The company claims to have completed more than 5 million trips covering 185 million kilometers.
Blusmart is becoming increasingly popular among commuters who have been facing issues with the duopoly of Uber-Ola for years. Unlike Uber and Ola, Blusmart owns the entire fleet of its cars, giving it greater control over management, operations, and quality of service.
Blusmart’s expansion plans take shape at a time when fuel prices in India are at a near all-time high. Prices of compressed natural gas (CNG), which powers most cabs in India, increased sharply during the post-COVID economic recovery.
Eyeing the high dependence on imported fuel and increasing air pollution, the Indian government had announced an intention to ban the sale of cars based on internal combustion engines. However, limited support from automakers and the challenge of an insufficient charging infrastructure made the government backtrack on its ambitious plans.
The Indian government is now looking to offer incentives for the adoption of EVs. The Delhi government is reportedly planning to allow only electric cabs in the city by 2030.
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