Gensol Engineering seeks bids to lease its 4,000-car EV fleet for a monthly rental

These electric vehicles were leased by Gensol Engineering to a related entity - BluSmart Mobility – which was founded in 2019 to provide sustainable urban transport

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Troubled EPC player Gensol Engineering, undergoing Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), has released an advertisement seeking bids from interested parties to lease pre-owned electric vehicles for a fixed monthly lease rental.

“The cars are available at a fixed monthly lease rental and a nominal down payment,” the Interim Resolution Professional said. Gensol Engineering, in the advertisement, said that around 4,000 pre-owned electric vehicles are available for lease in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.

These electric vehicles were leased by Gensol Engineering to a related entity - BluSmart Mobility – which was founded in 2019 to provide sustainable urban transport. Following BluSmart’s troubles after the Gensol saga, many other players are likely willing to fill this space. Some of the companies running EV cabs in major cities - Evera Cabs, Uber Electric and Everest Fleet – are expected to bid for the lease of Gensol Engineering’s cabs.

One veteran of the mobility business said, “There is enough space for EV cabs in urban mobility, as conscious customers prefer such cabs and are ready to pay higher charges for a good service.” He added, “…there is definitely a robust market for such cabs, but it will also depend on the condition of the vehicles, as the operations of BluSmart have been suspended since April, so the EV fleets of Gensol may require maintenance, especially the battery.”

An email sent to Interim Resolution Professional Keshav Khaneja seeking further details of the leasing terms did not elicit any response.

Operations of BluSmart were suspended following a Sebi crackdown against Gensol Engineering’s promoters.

Market regulator Sebi had passed an interim order against Gensol Engineering on April 15, restraining the company and promoters from accessing the securities market. It also directed the promoters - Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi - to step down from the board of the company.

Sebi had found in its preliminary investigation that loans of Rs 977.75 crore were taken from PSU NBFCs - IREDA and PFC - out of which only Rs 663.89 crore was for purchasing 6,400 electric vehicles. Moneycontrol was the first to report that Gensol Engineering was under Sebi scanner.

Sebi had found that Gensol procured only 4,704 electric vehicles (EVs) against the 6,400 EVs for which it had secured funding, and spent only Rs 567.73 crore on electric vehicles. Sebi has alleged that the rest of the funds were not used for EV purchase but diverted for personal usage by the promoters.

Rating agency ICRA had first flagged the issue of falsified documents of debt servicing for the first time, and Care Rating too also flagged concerns around Gensol Engineering in March this year. Sebi received a complaint in June 2024 relating to manipulation of share price and diversion of funds from GEL, and thereafter started examining the matter.

After Sebi’s interim order, agencies such as Enforcement Directorate and Ministry of Corporate Affairs too have initiated investigations into the company.