First came the in Haryana (2019), which decimated state revenues and led to massive hikes in road taxes and permit fees. Many bus operators went bankrupt. Batra had to pivot hard, reducing fleets and optimizing routes like never before.
"It is a service, not a lottery," he argues. pawan batra
Then came the existential threat: .
Pawan Batra is proving that "asset-light" and "public good" are not contradictions. He has shown that you can build a unicorn not by burning cash on discounts, but by solving a boring, painful problem extremely well. First came the in Haryana (2019), which decimated
The secret sauce was not just the buses; it was the algorithm. Batra’s engineering background meant he obsessed over "virtual bus stops." Instead of stopping everywhere like a city bus, Shuttl picks up and drops off at specific, safe points based on aggregated demand heat maps. This cuts travel time by nearly 40% compared to standard public buses. Building a mobility startup in India is not for the faint of heart. The period between 2019 and 2022 was brutal. "It is a service, not a lottery," he argues
"I realized that the gap between the 'Bhartiya Mahila' (public bus) and the 'Ola-Uber' (taxi) was a black hole," Batra once told an interviewer. "There was no 'Goldilocks' option."