BluSmart: Bankrupt Leadership

1. The sudden fall of BluSmart, India’s leading EV mobility company is due to broken and bankrupt leadership and certainly, not a business failure. This is another instance where greed and lust for personal luxuries took over the virtues of leadership. The money spent on personal luxuries was not earned money of the business leaders but borrowings/investments of the business. The leadership was completely oblivious to about 10,000 Cab Drivers, more than 2000 employees, thousands of charging stations, several prestigious investors, and its ripple effect on start-ecosystems. BluSmart had investments from Mr. Ratan J. Tata but what was more needed was a fraction of his values in the company. Had a fraction of the values of Mr. Ratan J. Tata been invested by the leadership of BluSmart in the company the world would have witnessed the creation of a legacy, not another start-up scam.

2. BluSmart was in an industry with ever-increasing demand, unprecedented support and spending from the Government, favouritism from reputed/celebrated private investors, and public money/capital yet we are witnessing one of most horrific scams of our times. In our tradition, even wealth is governed by ‘Dharma’ and in the case of ‘BluSmart’ what we are witnessing is complete ‘adharmic’ conduct of leadership. The luxurious goods and houses dishonestly and unethically bought from BluSmart’s borrowings by its leaders are ‘Adharmic’ or unrighteous which resulted in the suffering, degradation, and downfall of BluSmart. Jaggi Brothers as leaders of the company failed to uphold ethical principles and their duties as trustees towards all stakeholders of BluSmart.

3. The exceptionally large wealth and legacy have mostly been created by ‘dharmic’ leaders and the virtues of those business leaders like integrity and honesty are the most defining factors behind the success of these businesses. BluSmart did not fall because the model failed but because the leadership failed. No matter how innovative the product, how promising the market is, or how favourable the external conditions are, a company ultimately reflects the values of those who lead it. History is a testament to the fact that those who work and build with dharma i.e. character, transparency, and honesty go towards building sustainable companies that last for generations.

4. However, founders like the Jaggi Brothers who relinquished their professional dharma and chased personal material success without seeing the bigger picture ended up derailing not only the company but also the trust of society. This is not just negligence but criminal misappropriation and misleading and defrauding the investors and stakeholders. The underlying effect is much deeper than what the eyes could see.

5. BluSmart, which began with the vision of tapping into India’s growing EV market by replacing traditional gasoline-powered cabs with an electric fleet, also aimed to develop India’s largest network of EV charging stations. BluSmart began with the best possible start, a company could imagine. From technological summits to government expos, the company and its promoters enjoyed glowing media attention, celebrity endorsements, and most importantly faith from the country to bring a change and create a legacy. The company also managed to secure $182.05 million in equity investment across multiple rounds including $24 million from MS Dhoni, $3 million from Deepika Padukone, Sanjeev Bajaj, Ashneer Grover, $20 million from Swiss asset management company responsABILITY and ReNew Power CEO Sumant Sinha among others. It operated a fleet of over 8000 cabs across India and around 4000 EV charging stations spanning Delhi NCR and Bengaluru.

6. In conclusion failure of BluSmart is not a technological failure or an unsustainable business model but from the failure of its leadership (founders). The collapse of ‘BluSmart’ was triggered by the founders’ ‘adharmic’ acts instead of ‘dharmic’ duties. Had the founders/leaders of BluSmart would have acted in a ‘dharmic’ way with long-term plans of wealth creation instead of an ‘adharmic’ way of short-term material pleasures, the leaders would have been rewarded with much bigger rewards in due course.

7. With the changing geo-political scenario, Indian entrepreneurs are witnessing global opportunities knocking at their doors. If Indian entrepreneurs/businesses are aspiring to deliver and create businesses at a global level, they must learn their lesson and act in a ‘dharmic’ way.