Northern India’s suffocating, toxic air was a big factor in Akash Gupta’s decision to quit his decade-long climb up the corporate ladder and start a last-mile electric vehicle logistics company. Wanting to help pare back India’s noxious smog “was the biggest trigger for me”, he explains.
The company, based in the New Delhi satellite city of Gurugram, says annual revenue now stands at about $40mn and the business is operationally profitable. Still, India’s EV take-off has so far been sluggish, in part because combustion-engine vehicles remain much more affordable than their EV counterparts in a country where average incomes are relatively low. Infrastructure is also problematic, with just over 8,700 public charging stations in the world’s most populous nation.