Baghirathi Group, a shared mobility solutions provider, plans to start “additional” cab services for its existing corporate customers within a year and raise money through debt to expand its fleet of buses and cars to 10,000, CEO Mahesh Hariharan said.
The Bangalore-based company, which has a fleet of 2,000 cars and 700 buses, is talking to banks to raise the money to increase its fleet to 10,000 within the next three years, Mr. Hariharan, who is also the founding director, said in an interview.
“We transport an average of 40,000 people a day and our go-to-market strategies different when it comes to retail. We have a huge database of our customers in a digital format. We know we can provide additional services to these customers,” he said without elaborating.
There are about 70 lakh vehicles registered in Bengaluru, the information technology hub of India — with a population of 84.43 lakh. The number has more than doubled in the past 10 years, according to the State government. The city houses the second highest number of vehicles next to New Delhi (1.01 crore).
“The way out is shared and sustained mobility. Vehicular pollution contributes nearly 40% to the city’s deteriorating air quality. We have placed an order for 1,000 electric vehicles from Mahindra and got the first batch of 100 delivered and deployed,” Mr. Hariharan said.
Baghirathi’s fleet is being used by companies such as Oracle India, Honda Cars India, ABB India, German software maker SAP and Cargill. The company was founded in 2003 and posted revenue of ₹120 crore last financial year. Of its 1,000 employees, 40% are women, including the drivers.
