Happy Friday! BluSmart cofounders Anmol and Puneet Jaggi face Sebi charges of financial misconduct involving Gensol Engineering, raising serious concerns over India’s cleantech poster firm. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ NPCI’s UPI checkout upgrade
■ Infosys Q4 results
■ Flipkart’s RTO memo
Programming note: There won’t be an edition of ETtech Top 5 today and Unwrapped tomorrow as we take a break for the Easter weekend. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday.
How Jaggis misled investors and lenders while being cleantech poster boys
Anmol and Puneet Jaggi, once celebrated as poster boys of India’s cleantech movement for their electric cab venture BluSmart, now face serious fraud allegations from Sebi involving their listed company, Gensol Engineering.
Driving the news: Sebi’s investigation revealed the brothers diverted Rs 262 crore—raised as loans for purchasing EVs—towards luxury expenses, including a Rs 43-crore apartment at DLF Camellias, stock market trades, and investments such as Ashneer Grover’s Crickpe. Gensol allegedly forged lender letters, misled investors with fake EV orders, and fabricated the sale of a US subsidiary.
Why it matters: Though BluSmart has no equity link to Gensol, its 8,000-vehicle EV fleet was largely leased through the listed firm. As a result, state-owned lenders PFC and IREDA now face provisioning of Rs 1,000 crore. Gensol’s stock has crashed 85%.
What’s next: Sebi is appointing a forensic auditor. BluSmart—once a rare startup praised for its reliability—now faces an uncertain future, its credibility in question following the actions of its founders.
The exits: Gensol’s independent directors Arun Menon, Harsh Singh, and Kuljit Singh Popli resigned with immediate effect on April 19.
Read ETtech’s in-depth covering of the Gensol-BluSmart crisis:
Kamal Agrawal, one of the promoters of Haldiram’s, and Malaysia’s sovereign fund Khazanah, are leading a Rs 130-150 crore bridge round in quick-service restaurant chain Wow! Momo.
Deal details: The funding is being raised via convertible notes, sources told ET, and the company’s valuation will be set during its next funding round. Wow! Momo has appointed bankers to manage the upcoming raise.
In FY24, Wow! Momo reported Rs 480 crore in revenue and a net loss of Rs 114 crore.
Tell me more: Agarwal was previously the promoter of the Haldiram’s Nagpur faction, which has since merged with the Delhi entity. The merged company recently raised funding from Alpha Wave Global, International Holding Company (IHC) and Singapore’s Temasek, valuing it at $10 billion (approximately Rs 86,000 crore).
NPCI planning to let users save UPI IDs at merchant checkouts
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is preparing a major overhaul of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) online checkout experience, sparking concerns among smaller payment apps.
Driving the news: Three people in the know told us that NPCI plans to let consumers store their UPI IDs at merchant checkpoints, similar to how debit and credit cards are tokenised. They added that the move aims to improve transaction success rates and streamline the consumer checkout experience. Internally, the product is being referred to as UPI Meta.
Early days: Though work has begun, NPCI has yet to publicise the technical specifications, and the regulatory green light has not been sought either. However, NPCI officials have briefed several industry stakeholders about the proposed upgrade.
Major concerns: Smaller UPI apps have voiced their objections to NPCI, arguing the move would further entrench the dominance of major players. PhonePe and Google Pay control over 80% of the UPI market, and rivals fear UPI Meta will only consolidate their lead.
Also Read: UPI speed bump: Wider base shrinks growth rate
Infosys Q4 results: Net profit down 12%, revenue rises 8%
Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys
IT giant Infosys reported a decline in consolidated net profit for the March quarter compared to last year.
Financials:
Nitish Mittersain, CEO, Nazara Technologies
Nazara to add Rs 800-1,000 crore to M&A war chest: Online gaming firm Nazara Technologies has set aside Rs 800–1,000 crore ($94–117 million) this year to fuel its acquisition spree, CEO Nitish Mittersain told ET.
Flipkart ends remote work policy; employees asked to return to office five days a week: The ecommerce major had adopted work-from-home in 2020 as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, during which companies across sectors shifted en masse to remote operations. Over the past year, Flipkart had gradually nudged its corporate workforce back to office, aligning with a broader trend among tech firms.
Sunscreen faceoff settled: HUL, Mamaearth parent resolve legal dispute over billboard ads | Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has settled its legal dispute with Honasa Consumer, the parent company of beauty and personal care brand Mamaearth, over an advertising campaign that had raised concerns over the efficacy of digital-first sunscreen brands. Honasa confirmed the resolution in a statement on Thursday.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ Tech in 2025: Trump and the tech bros ( FT)
■ This ‘College Protester’ isn’t real. It’s an AI-powered undercover bot for cops ( Wired)
■ Foxconn’s iPhone factory is fueling a real estate boom in a small Indian farming town ( Rest of World)
Also in the letter:
■ NPCI’s UPI checkout upgrade
■ Infosys Q4 results
■ Flipkart’s RTO memo
Programming note: There won’t be an edition of ETtech Top 5 today and Unwrapped tomorrow as we take a break for the Easter weekend. We’ll be back in your inbox on Monday.
How Jaggis misled investors and lenders while being cleantech poster boys
Anmol and Puneet Jaggi, once celebrated as poster boys of India’s cleantech movement for their electric cab venture BluSmart, now face serious fraud allegations from Sebi involving their listed company, Gensol Engineering.
Driving the news: Sebi’s investigation revealed the brothers diverted Rs 262 crore—raised as loans for purchasing EVs—towards luxury expenses, including a Rs 43-crore apartment at DLF Camellias, stock market trades, and investments such as Ashneer Grover’s Crickpe. Gensol allegedly forged lender letters, misled investors with fake EV orders, and fabricated the sale of a US subsidiary.
Why it matters: Though BluSmart has no equity link to Gensol, its 8,000-vehicle EV fleet was largely leased through the listed firm. As a result, state-owned lenders PFC and IREDA now face provisioning of Rs 1,000 crore. Gensol’s stock has crashed 85%.
What’s next: Sebi is appointing a forensic auditor. BluSmart—once a rare startup praised for its reliability—now faces an uncertain future, its credibility in question following the actions of its founders.
The exits: Gensol’s independent directors Arun Menon, Harsh Singh, and Kuljit Singh Popli resigned with immediate effect on April 19.
Read ETtech’s in-depth covering of the Gensol-BluSmart crisis:
- BluSmart begins pullback of ride-hailing operations
- Scoop: Uber in early discussions with EV ride-hailing startup BluSmart for a possible acquisition
- Exclusive: BluSmart may end cab-hailing trip, hit reverse gear
- BluSmart halts Delhi airport operations amid Sebi heat on promoters
- BluSmart's ride into the sunset: Timeline of events at the cab-hailing EV firm
- End trip for BluSmart? Behind the EV ride-hailing company’s deepening crisis
Kamal Agrawal, one of the promoters of Haldiram’s, and Malaysia’s sovereign fund Khazanah, are leading a Rs 130-150 crore bridge round in quick-service restaurant chain Wow! Momo.
Deal details: The funding is being raised via convertible notes, sources told ET, and the company’s valuation will be set during its next funding round. Wow! Momo has appointed bankers to manage the upcoming raise.
- The next round is expected to bring in $75-80 million (~Rs 600-700 crore).
- It aims to close it by the December quarter of this year.
- Other family offices and high net-worth individuals may also join this round.
- In its last funding round in January 2024, Wow Momo was valued at Rs 2,400 crore after raising Rs 350 crore.
In FY24, Wow! Momo reported Rs 480 crore in revenue and a net loss of Rs 114 crore.
Tell me more: Agarwal was previously the promoter of the Haldiram’s Nagpur faction, which has since merged with the Delhi entity. The merged company recently raised funding from Alpha Wave Global, International Holding Company (IHC) and Singapore’s Temasek, valuing it at $10 billion (approximately Rs 86,000 crore).
NPCI planning to let users save UPI IDs at merchant checkouts
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is preparing a major overhaul of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) online checkout experience, sparking concerns among smaller payment apps.
Driving the news: Three people in the know told us that NPCI plans to let consumers store their UPI IDs at merchant checkpoints, similar to how debit and credit cards are tokenised. They added that the move aims to improve transaction success rates and streamline the consumer checkout experience. Internally, the product is being referred to as UPI Meta.
Early days: Though work has begun, NPCI has yet to publicise the technical specifications, and the regulatory green light has not been sought either. However, NPCI officials have briefed several industry stakeholders about the proposed upgrade.
Major concerns: Smaller UPI apps have voiced their objections to NPCI, arguing the move would further entrench the dominance of major players. PhonePe and Google Pay control over 80% of the UPI market, and rivals fear UPI Meta will only consolidate their lead.
Also Read: UPI speed bump: Wider base shrinks growth rate
Infosys Q4 results: Net profit down 12%, revenue rises 8%
IT giant Infosys reported a decline in consolidated net profit for the March quarter compared to last year.
Financials:
- Net profit fell 12% year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 7,033 crore, down from Rs 7,969 crore.
- Revenue rose 8% YoY, from Rs 37,923 crore to Rs 40,925 crore in Q4.
- Operating margin stood at 21%, up 0.9 percentage points YoY but down 0.3 from the previous quarter.
Nazara to add Rs 800-1,000 crore to M&A war chest: Online gaming firm Nazara Technologies has set aside Rs 800–1,000 crore ($94–117 million) this year to fuel its acquisition spree, CEO Nitish Mittersain told ET.
Flipkart ends remote work policy; employees asked to return to office five days a week: The ecommerce major had adopted work-from-home in 2020 as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, during which companies across sectors shifted en masse to remote operations. Over the past year, Flipkart had gradually nudged its corporate workforce back to office, aligning with a broader trend among tech firms.
Sunscreen faceoff settled: HUL, Mamaearth parent resolve legal dispute over billboard ads | Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has settled its legal dispute with Honasa Consumer, the parent company of beauty and personal care brand Mamaearth, over an advertising campaign that had raised concerns over the efficacy of digital-first sunscreen brands. Honasa confirmed the resolution in a statement on Thursday.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ Tech in 2025: Trump and the tech bros ( FT)
■ This ‘College Protester’ isn’t real. It’s an AI-powered undercover bot for cops ( Wired)
■ Foxconn’s iPhone factory is fueling a real estate boom in a small Indian farming town ( Rest of World)
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