GCF partners firm to expand electric vehicle use across India

A new electric vehicle company focused on boosting large-scale use of electric vehicles, across India, launched on 22 April in Mumbai, India, as part of the India E-Mobility Financing Programme, backed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in partnership with Macquarie Asset Management.

GCF and its partners are committed to redefining how we think about transport and sustainably transforming the way India moves. The future of transportation in India can be more efficient and beneficial to communities, including improving the quality of the air they breathe every day.

Transportation is India’s third-highest greenhouse gas emitting sector, contributing about 13 per cent of India’s total carbon dioxide emissions. It is forecasted to increase due to high population growth rate and increasing levels of industrialisation and urbanisation.

In line with India’s climate ambitions, there is real potential to decarbonise the transport sector through electrification. The platform, Vertelo, will offer leasing and financing solutions; fleet management services; charging infrastructure and energy solutions; and end of vehicle life management.

Green Climate Fund Deputy Executive Director, Henry Gonzalez said: “The platform launched today is a big moment for all involved. It has been designed to speed up the adoption of electric vehicles – buses and commercial fleets – by providing affordable leasing and financing solutions. This will help bring costs down, so electric vehicles can be truly competitive, and people can breathe cleaner, safer air across the country. This investment is the Green Climate Fund’s first private-sector transport programme in the e-mobility sector and we are excited to have provided USD 200 million equity capital to support India’s e-mobility transition.”

The programme will provide tailored financing solutions to electric vehicle owners and operators including in areas such as charging infrastructure that will bring the long-term cost of electric vehicle ownership to a level comparable to conventional vehicles.

This investment is GCF’s first private sector transport programme in the e-mobility sector and aims to mobilise around USD 1.5 billion over the next 10 years.

It will focus on shared fleet, e-buses and charging infrastructure, before expanding into other e-mobility areas. The platform will increase market penetration and domestic manufacturing for electric vehicles – and help decrease current high levels of air pollution in cities across the country.

The Green Climate Fund is supporting ten climate projects in India totalling USD 566.8 million in GCF financing.