"BlackBuck, the ₹10,900 crore company, departs from Bangalore due to the city's poor road conditions"
In a move that has sent shockwaves through the tech industry, BlackBuck, India's leading digital trucking platform, has decided to leave its Outer Ring Road (ORR) office in Bengaluru. The reason behind this decision, as stated by CEO Rajesh Kumar Yabaji, is the unbearable commute for employees, plagued by traffic congestion and poor infrastructure.
Founded in 2015, BlackBuck, officially known as Zinka Logistics Solutions, has digitized India's trucking ecosystem, offering services such as load matching, digital tolling, fuel management, and fleet analytics. The company's indispensable offerings have made it a favourite among large corporates, SMEs, and individual truckers alike.
The ORR stretch between Silk Board and KR Puram, where BlackBuck's office is located, now represents gridlock and civic neglect. Traffic on this stretch has surged 45% in the past year, according to Times of India, making the daily commute for BlackBuck employees a gruelling experience. Employees spend more than 90 minutes every day navigating crater-like stretches to reach work.
The departure of BlackBuck, a digital trucking platform valued at over ₹10,900 crore ($1.3 billion), has been met with criticism from various quarters. The Greater Bengaluru IT Companies & Industries Association has urged immediate action and demanded a roadmap to salvage the city's standing as India's tech capital. Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai has called BlackBuck's exit a "big failure of governance."
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has acknowledged that Bengaluru, "not a planned city," cannot be fixed overnight. Residents have suggested solutions such as completing the Metro line, concrete arterial roads, adding buses and shuttle links, repairing drains and footpaths, and providing working streetlights.
However, Yabaji does not see any improvement in the next five years. In a letter, he wrote that the roads in Bengaluru are full of potholes and dust, and the area is sliding deeper into dysfunction due to years of complaints being ignored by politicians. One netizen described Bellandur, where BlackBuck's office is located, as less of a tech hub and more of a "workplace purgatory."
In Q1 FY26, BlackBuck posted ₹143.6 crore in revenue, up 56% year-on-year, with a net profit of ₹33.7 crore. The company went public in late 2024 at a valuation of ₹4,818 crore and has since recovered as revenues and profits improved.
As BlackBuck prepares to relocate to a site near the old Outer Ring Road office in Bellandur, the city of Bengaluru is left to grapple with the consequences of its failing infrastructure and deteriorating traffic conditions. The departure of BlackBuck serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for action to revitalize the city and maintain its position as India's tech capital.
