Mitsui has announced an investment of nearly $14 million (₹963 million) in SmartE, a three-wheeler electric mobility service. SmartE is owned and operated by Treasure Vase Ventures Private Limited.

This investment will assist the company in expanding its fleet of electric three-wheelers to 50,000 over four years. The company will also be increasing its services pan India.

India has been on an electric mobility adoption spree of late with NITI Aayog and National Electricity Mobility Mission (NEMMP) coming out with plans to assist India in the clean mobility transition.

Shinichiro Omachi, Managing Director of Mitsui & Co. India said, “Growing urbanization in Delhi-NCR is driving the demand for transportation, including first and last-mile services, placing a greater burden on the environment. We are proud to partner with SmartE, a true pioneer in the electric mobility service space, who shares our commitment to sustainable business development and alleviating pain points to improve living standards for communities.”

SmartE has a good presence in the Delhi and the national capital region. SmartE and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation have collaborated on a project wherein commuters have access to electric three-wheelers at centers outside the metro station. SmartE has a fleet of 800 electric vehicles and five charging stations.

Investments are pouring into the electric mobility sector also. Recently, Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd (Ola Electric) announced that Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Sons, has invested an undisclosed amount in the company as part of its Series A round of funding. He was also an early investor in ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, Ola’s parent company.

PURE EV, an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad-incubated startup, has also raised an undisclosed amount of funding.

Ather Energy, India’s intelligent electric scooter manufacturer, recently raised $51 million in its latest round of funding, led by Flipkart’s co-founder Sachin Bansal’s investment of $32 million.

In a welcome development for the EV sector, this year’s newly-introduced budget has also announced numerous incentives to encourage consumers to uptake electric vehicles. The categories of EVs supported through budgetary incentives are electric buses, four-wheelers, three-wheelers, and two-wheelers.

Image credit: Gillfoto from Juneau, Alaska, United States [CC BY-SA 2.0]