ARKA began as an EV charging hub. Charging, we thought, could be a reason to stop rather than a chore.

Our first idea tried to do it all: charging, retail, co-working and solar, for every kind of driver. Pull it apart and the gaps were obvious. No clear audience, no named partners, no standard model, no proven need, no way to scale and no plan.

So ARKA flipped from a place you stop at to a stop you barely make: order on the move, pick up in two minutes, keep driving.

The EV side didn't disappear. Stations still have EV charging, clean washrooms and other amenities, but the drive-through leads.

1. 01

   Niche target market

   People on long highway trips, not every EV driver.

2. 02

   Specified collaborators

   Inventory suppliers, payment providers, highway authorities and fuel-station operators.

3. 03

   Standardised

   The same station, lanes and SOPs every time.

4. 04

   Definite market need

   There's no predictable place to get forgotten essentials on the highway.

5. 05

   Scalable service

   Express stations every 60–80 km, premium stations every 100–200 km.

6. 06

   Clear roadmap

   From validating demand to a national network in 2–3 years.

• Zerodetour
• Zeroqueue
• Zerouncertainty

Indian highways have grown rapidly, but predictable, quick-access essential supply points do not exist.

86 people answered our Google Form. These are the six things that changed what we designed.

1. 89.5%

   have dealt with dirty highway washrooms.

   → Stations get clean washrooms, even though the core is a two-minute pickup.

   Which highway issues have you faced?

2. 79%

   end up buying water or drinks they didn't plan for.

   → Fast-moving essentials only. Nothing to cook.

   What do you usually end up buying unexpectedly?

3. 70%

   would pre-order and pick up without stepping out.

   → The drive-through lane became the heart of the service.

   Would you prefer a pre-order, no-step-out service?

4. 64%

   would use it every trip or frequently, with stations every 60–80 km.

   → Express stations every 60–80 km.

   If this existed every 60–80 km, how often would you use it?

5. 59%

   would trust FASTag to pay automatically. Only 5% said no.

   → FASTag + UPI at the window, no cash, no stopping to pay.

   Would you trust FASTag-based automatic payment?

6. 53%

   would pre-order in an emergency, and 52% for late-night travel.

   → Open 24/7, brightly lit, with medicines on the shelf.

   Which situations would make you use pre-ordering?

The poster names four groups; fleets came up in our route research. Behind each group are the persona stories we built with Perplexity. The ones with a dashed border used services we later dropped (medical help, a mechanic, fuel booking), but they shaped who ARKA is for.

Two cars, the same 840 km and the same four moments our survey kept pointing at. One does it the usual way, one has ARKA. Scroll to drive.

I storyboarded the journey and generated each panel for the centre of the A2 poster. A traveller, a forgotten need, and a stop that takes under two minutes.

• 1 haminimum plot (10,000 sq m); typical sites are 4–5 acres
• 40–60km: the recommended gap between wayside amenities
• 75%of the plot kept open for parking, movement and landscaping

1. 01

   Access permission from MoRTH

   Applied for by the operator; NHAI provides access up to the right of way.

2. 02

   Land-use conversion and layout approval

   All statutory approvals, and NHAI signs off the designs.

3. 03

   At least 1 km from a toll plaza

   And 30 km from NHAI's own Highway Village sites on the same side.

4. 04

   Free toilets and drinking water

   Separate toilets, a baby-care room, and car, bus and truck parking are mandatory.

Source: NHAI, Wayside Amenities expression of interest.

1. Phase 1 · Year 1

   Pilot

   • 3 pilot stations on high-traffic highway stretches (e.g., NH-48)
   • Civil + drive-through setup: ₹80–100 lakh
   • Tech + signage + POS: ₹10–15 lakh
   • Total CAPEX / station: ₹1–1.1 crore
   • OPEX per station: ~₹5.2 lakh a month
   • Break-even achieved at ~250–300 orders/day
   • 12–14 staff, 24/7 rotational shifts, centralized HR payroll + training
2. Phase 2

   Stabilization

   • Expand to 10–12 stations
   • Standardize: layout, drive-through SOPs, packaging, staff training manuals
   • Introduce ARKA combo products (high-margin)
   • Financial outcome: unit economics validated, predictable demand curves, data-driven inventory planning
3. Phase 3

   Network play

   • 25+ stations
   • Introduce fleet subscriptions, premium lanes and dynamic pricing (peak-hour convenience fee)
   • Begin franchise / PPP discussions

1. Establish

   Establishing stability

   • Operational: SOP-led operations, redundant staff for peak hours, fail-safe power + network systems
   • Trust: time-stamped hygiene logs, visible staff identity, customer service escalation built into the app
   • Financial: cost predictability, high-margin curated SKUs, repeat user patterns
2. Envision

   Envisioning

   Short-term vision: ARKA becomes “The default stop Indians trust on highways”.

   • Car UI-native ordering
   • Predictive rest-stop recommendations
   • Personal travel profiles
   • Subscription-based frequent-traveler benefits
3. Reposition

   Repositioning

   From ‘Highway convenience stop’ to ‘India’s highway service infrastructure layer’.

   • Expand on the Golden Quadrilateral
   • Tiered stations: Express (60–80 km), Premium (100–200 km)
   • PPP models with NHAI, franchise-led expansion, B2B fleet ecosystems

Everything above, on one A2 sheet. I formatted it (and the deck), and generated the comic at its centre. Zoom in, or jump to a part.

ARKA is Sanskrit for the sun. We started with EV charging, and most of that electricity would come from the sun, so the name stuck. Electric green on black, a slanted wordmark that looks like it's already moving, and Gobold for anything loud.