Empowering Innovation: A Conversation with CEO Bharat Bala, CEO of AMP

An Exclusive Interview with Bharat Bala, CEO of AMP, India’s first premium EV subscription platform

Bharat Bala, CEO of AMP, leads India’s first premium EV subscription platform, revolutionizing urban mobility. In this interview, he shares insights on AMP’s innovative approach, the future of electric vehicles, and how subscription models can transform transportation across India.

How is AMP Helping MSMEs Leverage Premium EVs traditionally perceived as Risky Investments?

Bharat Bala: AMP’s innovative asset-light model transforms the traditional vehicle-ownership paradigm for MSMEs by turning what would typically be a capital first module into a flexible, profitable, revenue-generating opportunity.

Instead of requiring MSMEs to make substantial upfront expenditures, AMP enables a participatory financial model, enabling business owners to access premium electric vehicles , lease them and avail full depreciation and tax benefits, without draining their operational capital.

The most significant barrier to EV adoption among MSMEs has always been the substantial upfront capital requirement, coupled with a nascent secondary market leading to a skeptical view on capital return.

AMP directly addresses this constraint with its unique models, effectively removing the worry MSMEs have when they need to write large cheques for EV  acquisition.

This approach preserves precious working capital, unlocks annuity from depreciating assets, enabling business owners to have greater flexibility in managing day-to-day operational expenses such as payroll, inventory, and vendor payments due to predictable improved cash flows effectively converting depreciation into visible profitability

AMP helps MSMEs with intelligent financial optimization of vehicle depreciation. When an MSME purchases a vehicle for lease as an entity, the vehicle depreciates as a legitimate business expense, reducing taxable income while simultaneously enhancing visible profitability metrics.

AMP’s model magnifies this advantage by giving MSMEs access to premium assets without the pressure of upfront investment, turning EV ownership into a strategic lever for healthier financial statements.

What role does AMP’s tax-efficient leasing model play in improving the operational efficiency for MSMEs?

Bharat Bala: Depreciation as a Financial Leverage Tool

The cornerstone of AMP’s tax-efficient leasing model is the intelligent use of depreciation as a strategic financial lever.

When MSMEs acquire assets for leasing, the depreciation applied to these leased assets generates a meaningful tax-reduction effect without any real cash leaving the business.

This creates a rare dual advantage: enterprises can project stronger profitability to stakeholders, investors, and financial institutions, while simultaneously forecasting their actual tax obligations to revenue authorities better. It’s a powerful financial balancing act that strengthens both perception and performance.

EBITDA Enhancement Without Capital Deployment

The operational upside of AMP’s leasing structure comes into full view through significantly enhanced EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization) metrics.

Depreciation may reduce taxable income on paper, but because EBITDA excludes this non-cash expense, MSMEs present a far clearer and more compelling picture of their true operating efficiency.

With AMP’s unique models, MSMEs can showcase accurately calibrated EBITDA figures, reflecting actual cash-generating capability, without deploying a single additional rupee of capital.

This not only improves operational efficiency but also amplifies the company’s financial leverage and credibility.

How does AMP help MSMEs leverage asset depreciation, insurance, and maintenance costs for premium EVs?

Bharat Bala: Through AMP’s model, MSMEs can transform what is traditionally treated as a pure cost center and depreciating asset into a strategic financial lever that enhances profitability, optimizes tax outcomes, and strengthens operating cash flows.

Under this structure the premium EV, a depreciable asset on the MSME’s balance sheet, and this depreciation along with insurance and maintenance expenses, is intelligently utilized to calibrate the enterprise’s financial performance reports.

The core benefit lies in AMP’s ability to turn non-cash depreciation into a financial advantage.

Depreciation reduces taxable income without demanding an equivalent cash outflow, thereby boosting the company’s visible profitability metrics, particularly EBITDA. As a result, MSMEs gain the dual benefit of lower taxable income and stronger operating optics.

Moreover, the accounting treatment of accelerated or optimized depreciation improves profitability for tax reporting, streamlining overall tax planning.

At the same time, because depreciation is a non-cash charge and excluded from EBITDA, the company’s EBITDA profile becomes more attractive to lenders, investors, and external evaluators. This creates a powerful double impact:

Planned tax outgo, driven by higher deductible depreciation; and

 “On-paper” operating performance is far more accurate and creates valuation and strengthens integrity in reported expenses.

How does partnering with AMP for premium EV influence productivity, and business competitiveness for MSMEs?

Bharat Bala: Partnering with AMP transforms financial framework and fundamentally reshapes how Indian MSMEs approach asset acquisition and capital deployment.

By offering zero-to-minimal down payment access to premium electric vehicles, AMP effectively decouples business expansion from traditionally heavy depreciating investments for tax planning.

This is strategic advantage far beyond mobility: it converts traditionally capital-intensive tax planning into a tax-optimized, cash-flow-positive operational structure that enhances predictable profitability metrics, strengthens credit positioning, and supports sustainable scale-up.

Simply put – it translates on paper depreciation savings into real “money” in their hands.

For MSMEs operating in competitive environments with wafer thin margins, limited access to formal credit, this is not merely tax optimization, it is a full-fledged growth engine.

AMP’s financial flexibility operates in contrast to traditional loans. Instead of locking working capital into a depreciating asset, MSMEs can channel funds towards their core revenue-generating functions.

A distribution MSME, for example, can retain liquidity to bid for larger contracts rather than immobilizing capital in vehicle ownership.

This agility directly enhances productivity by enabling faster decision-making and greater responsiveness to opportunities.

Additionally, predictable monthly rentals, bundled with maintenance, insurance, and servicing allow MSMEs to forecast cash flows with high accuracy, addressing one of the most persistent financial management challenges in the sector.

Perhaps most compelling for growth focused MSMEs is the EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization) impact.

By shifting the EV to an operational expense model while leveraging depreciation and tax efficiencies, MSMEs unlock stronger EBITDA performance improving their creditworthiness, valuation optics, and competitiveness without deploying additional capital.

What infrastructure or support mechanisms has AMP built to ensure that MSMEs can transition to EVs smoothly, especially in Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets?

Bharat Bala: AMP’s current focus is on strengthening the EV adoption ecosystem in the NCR region, prioritizing seamless user experience, and going deep before going wide.

Through strategic collaborations with OEMs, Banks, NBFCs, insurance providers, charging partners, a full stack tech platform, phygital onboarding and proprietary underwriting engines – AMP ensures that MSMEs receive the right financial and operational packages, while ringfencing any associated risk.

This integrated framework is designed to make the transition to this new asset class smooth, guided, and completely stress-free for businesses.

In short, we provide:

Full stack financial support: Loans, insurance, Payments, and underwriting

End-to-end onboarding: Delivery coordination, setup support, and complete EV orientation for MSME teams.

Charging convenience: Integration with reliable charging partners, along with access to a robust network of home and public charging solutions

Comprehensive after-sales: Coordinated maintenance, insurance management, service scheduling, and round-the-clock assistance

Digital management tools: A user-friendly dashboard to track usage, manage subscriptions, and schedule servicing effortlessly

What are the fears that MSME face while buying an EV?

Bharat Bala: MSMEs today confront a formidable set of financial and operational barriers when evaluating electric vehicle acquisitions – steep upfront capital commitments, rigid financing constraints, technological unpredictability, and uncertain resale value trajectories.

These concerns are real and perceived risks arising from structural inefficiencies that continue to define the EV financing landscape. However, the rewards are very real  augmented by the advent of balance sheet monetization frameworks.

Ergo, MSMEs now can radically redefine how they approach EV ownership.

By stepping away from traditional, capital-heavy ownership model where risk, depreciation, and liquidity stress accumulate on the business, MSMEs can leverage their existing balance sheet strength to convert fixed capital obligations into stable, recurring revenue streams.

By acquiring and deploying income-generating EV assets without eroding operational liquidity, MSMEs unlock a multidimensional advantage: reduced tax incidence, strengthened profitability metrics, and a more resilient financial posture.

This shift enables businesses to transform EV acquisition from a high-risk investment into a strategically engineered, revenue-positive growth instrument.

By doing so they become real partners in driving EV adoption and true catalysts of clean energy, clean tech and most importantly a clean growing vibrant Indian Economy

Bharat Bala’s vision positions AMP at the forefront of sustainable mobility in India. His leadership drives innovation and accessibility in the EV sector, promising exciting growth and a cleaner future. AMP’s journey under his guidance marks a new chapter for electric vehicle adoption nationwide.

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