Evera Cabs to acquire 1,000 BluSmart EVs to strengthen footprint
The acquisition comes after reports that Uber has walked away from talks to onboard BluSmart’s cabs onto its platform citing heightened valuations, concerns.
New Delhi-based Evera Cabs on Monday said that it has initiated the repossession of 500 electric cabs from ride hailing company BluSmart following the suspension of its services in key metro cities.
The company said it has already acquired 220 vehicles and will reclaim the remaining 180 in the coming days. Additionally, the firm’s acquisition spree has a funnel of 1,000 BluSmart cabs that it aims to onboard to strengthen its footprint in Delhi NCR’s airport cab sector—a segment that BluSmart had a strong foothold of.
The repossession will be initiated through Evera’s lenders and is part of a multi-stage strategic plan to strengthen its operations, especially in and around Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The announcement comes as a shot in the arm for troubled BluSmart that was in conversation with its US-based rival Uber to onboard its vehicles. However, a Mint report said that Uber has walked away from the deal, citing high valuations for the cars and not taking into account the depreciation these EVs had gone through.
Previously, Gensol Engineering—a company founded by BluSmart’s co-founder Anmol Jaggi and his brother Puneet Jaggi—was in conversation with Chennai-based Refex Group to onboard around 3,000 EVs. However, the deal never took off.
Meanwhile, BluSmart drivers staged a protest in Delhi to demand payment of pending salaries and alternative employment opportunities.
Amidst these development, Evera said “a big chunk of BluSmart drivers are queuing up to join Evera.” It added that around 150 drivers have already started doing trips on the platform.
Going forward, Evera will double down on its airport network expansion and will extend its services across all terminals of Delhi’s airport with the help of its newly expanded fleet.
Edited by Megha Reddy
