Micro-mobility gaining momentum amid growing awareness, says Amit Gupta, Co-Founder of Yulu

Amit Gupta is Co-Founder and CEO of Yulu, India’s largest shared e-mobility company. He started Yulu in 2017 to tackle the growing challenges of urban congestion and air pollution. Amit’s leadership has been instrumental in turning Yulu into an EBITDA-profitable EV brand that advances India’s sustainability agenda, accelerates the transition to accessible and affordable e-mobility, and empowers gig rkers with better livelihoods.

With Amit at the helm, Yulu has become a category-creating brand backed by strategic investors Bajaj Auto Ltd. and Magna. His focus on technology and operational excellence have helped Yulu to achieve robust unit economics and strong product-market fit. Under him, the company has forged deep partnerships with city authorities and transport departments and also serves as a mobility partner to some of the country’s leading quick commerce and e-commerce platforms.

In an exclusive interview to Bizz Buzz, Amit said “Hyperlocal mobility in India still has several inefficiencies. Whether you’re a delivery rider, college student or office worker, short-distance travel can be costly, riddled with inefficiencies or delays or environmentally unsustainable."

He said Yulu is solving this problem by building the infrastructure needed for cities to flow more smoothly. Hyperlocal delivery is a critical pain-point. Yulu’s IoT-enabled EVs, affordable rental plans, and repair and maintenance infrastructure meaningfully enhance cost and productivity efficiencies in last-mile goods movement.

He pointed out "on the energy side, we’ve addressed range anxiety through Yuma Energy’s dense battery swapping network, ensuring maximum uptime for riders. That’s why top delivery brands trust Yulu to support swift, sustainable and efficient doorstep deliveries."

Yulu is deeply embedded in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad. What micro-mobility trends are you observing in these markets, and how do factors like local commuter behaviour, infrastructure readiness, and city regulations shape your business strategy and fleet economics?

The demand for smart, shared and sustainable micromobility is on the rise across Indian metros. However, city regulations and infrastructural readiness directly determine the reach and accessibility of shared mobility services.In an ideal scenario, shared mobility services will dovetail into the city’s overall mobility plan.

For example, DULT, a mobility-enabling entity under Government of Karnataka — Yulu’s key partner in Bengaluru — has unlocked space for Yulu Zones at key transition points and nodes as part of its larger mobility roadmap. Having the co-operation of city authorities is also critical because Yulu’s business model thrives on building long-term scale.

That’s why we look for alignment on vision and scale whenever we enter a new city. Responsible rider behaviour is another key determinant of the success of such businesses. Here, Yulu uses a mix of education and enforcement to drive the desired user behaviour to make the roads safer for all.

Despite the growth of EVs, issues like parking scarcity, traffic congestion, and last-mile gaps remain. How is Yulu addressing these city-specific mobility pain points through technology, fleet planning, or city partnerships?

We believe it’s time to fundamentally rethink how people relate to vehicles. In space-starved cities, promoting higher vehicle ownership — even if they’re EVs — isn’t sustainable. At the same time, access to electric mobility shouldn’t be limited to the middle or upper classes; it needs to be democratised for the masses. Yulu’s shared e-mobility model overcomes these traditional challenges.

Our EVs are affordable, easy to use and navigate in traffic, and non-polluting. With AI-led fleet management and a vast battery swapping network, we deploy vehicles in high-demand areas and provide predictable, reliable services.

And by working with state and city authorities to set up Yulu Zones and Centres, we make our service highly accessible across all major points of interest.

Just as importantly, we collaborate with governments to align with their goals on decongestion, decarbonisation, and livelihoods. This ensures our approach stays nuanced, practical, and tailored to each city we serve.

Andhra Pradesh Sustainable Electric Mobility Policy 4.0 (2024-2029) focuses on becoming a hub for EV manufacturing and innovation by offering incentives such as 100% motor vehicle tax exemption for all electric vehicles (except hybrids) for five years and attracting investment for EV production. How do you see its future?

The policy demonstrates strong ambition, with attractive manufacturing incentives including investment subsidies for MSME manufacturers, motor vehicle tax exemptions, power tariff reimbursements, and stamp duty waivers along with consumer purchase incentives.

However, an opportunity exists to complement this strong manufacturing focus with dedicated provisions for shared mobility operators.

While the policy mentions support for clean public and shared transport, providing enhanced frameworks to enable shared mobility and recognising the role of low-speed electric bikes would have indicated a welcome change in the current perspective towards mobility.

Such provisions would amplify the policy's impact on last-mile connectivity and emission-free urban transport, ultimately contributing towards a comprehensive, multimodal and sustainable transport ecosystem that benefits both manufacturers and mobility service providers.

Many Southern States are introducing EV-friendly incentives, mobility sandboxes, and urban transport policies. How do these evolving regulatory frameworks impact your expansion plans and the economics of operating a large shared EV fleet?

Southern States have demonstrated progressive policies with a multi-modal approach, specifically targeting EVs for cleaner mobility and last-mile connectivity. However, these policies don’t currently have a dedicated focus on shared mobility that encourages businesses and

users to transition away from vehicle ownership. Nor do they fully acknowledge the operational and environmental contributions of shared mobility platforms in decongesting roads, improving air quality and creating sustainable livelihoods for gig workers.

To fully realise the vision of sustainable urban mobility, governments must support the shared mobility segment with policies tailored to its unique operational and environmental contributions.

This support would go beyond manufacturing incentives and take the form of dedicated infrastructure and land allocation, seamless integration with public transport networks, expedited permissions near key activity centers, digital platform integration, reduced regulatory

compliance costs, user-side incentives, and priority access in congested areas.

Globally, cities like Paris, Singapore and Barcelona offer compelling examples of how such targeted support for shared mobility operators can transform urban transportation ecosystems.

Shared e-mobility demand often spikes around IT corridors and high-density residential pockets. What hyperlocal trends have you observed in cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad etc., and how do these insights influence your fleet deployment and pricing strategy?

The usage of our service varies by city. Yulu offers two usage models — pay-per-trip and long-term bike rentals. In Bengaluru, daily commuters mostly prefer per-trip rides, while delivery partners lean towards longer rentals.

Hyderabad shows a different pattern: despite offering only long-term rental vehicles, strategic placement of bikes around tech parks and residential clusters has attracted a mix of users — from IT employees and security staff to food court workers and even senior citizens — who choose multi-day plans for convenient travel.

These hyperlocal insights shape our deployment strategy. Mornings see bikes placed near transit points like metro stations and bus stops; evenings shift towards offices and tech parks. Afternoon demand comes from service staff and students.

Hence, bikes move closer to residential areas and education hubs. Late evenings cater to leisure riders visiting commercial neighbourhoods, and deployment aligns with those movement flows.

Air pollution levels across major metropolitan cities from Delhi and Mumbai to Bengaluru and Pune are touching hazardous ranges. How is Yulu positioning its shared EV mobility model as a viable solution to cut down short-distance Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) trips and contribute meaningfully to cleaner city air?

Sustainability has been baked into Yulu’s operating model from day one. As India’s leading shared electric mobility company, we have contributed greatly towards helping pollution-hit cities to reduce the carbon footprint of commutes and last-mile deliveries.

Yulu is also a valued partner for enterprises looking to ‘green-ify’ the last mile of delivery. Our plug-and-play mobility infrastructure allows enterprises of all sizes — from local merchants to national e-commerce players — to switch to electric mobility at scale. Paired with our affordable rental plans for riders, it makes us the most convenient, profitable and planet-friendly option for urban goods mobility.

To illustrate this impact better, Yulu’s quick-commerce delivery bikes prevented 2.2+ million kg of CO2 emissions in September 2025 alone. Across cities and categories, we have prevented 48+ million kg of emissions since our inception.

Looking ahead, what are the biggest opportunities and challenges for Yulu in the New Year? iAre there plans for new city launches, deeper penetration in existing markets, or diversification into new mobility categories?

Thanks to the exponentially growing demand for quick commerce (across groceries, food and household services), there’s an unmet demand for millions of shared delivery EVs. As the largest market player with 45,000 bikes on road, Yulu’s growth runway is huge.

Our expansion will be both horizontal (in new cities) and vertical (where we go deeper into existing markets). At present, Yulu is in 10 cities – four directly and six through franchise partners. We wish to expand our presence to 15-18 cities in the near future.

Yulu has also launched a mid-speed EV, Yulu Express, whose 45 km/hour top speed allows it to serve use-cases where longer distances or heavier cargo are involved: e.g., food delivery, courier or bike taxi services.

Another exciting category is ‘instant services’ like on-demand house-help services, doorstep path-lab tests, etc. With our plug-and-play mobility infrastructure, rich experience and ecosystem partnerships, Yulu is primed to capitalise on these opportunities.