In March 2018, the Government of India launched the National E-Mobility Program to achieve 100% e-mobility by 2030.

On World Earth Day 2019, SBI announced the launch of India’s first ‘Green Car Loan’ to encourage customers to buy electric vehicles.

To achieve the purpose, the bank has proposed to offer loans at 20 basis points (bps) lesser than the interest rate on the existing car loan programs it has on offer. SBI Green Car Loan also comes with the longest repayment period of up to eight years and is a strategic inclusion to the bank’s auto loan segment offered with zero processing fee for the first six months of the launch, the SBI informed in a notification.

To pump up the EV market in India, the public sector banking giant has now come up with attractive sops to attract possible customers in the segment.

“We are pleased to introduce the concept of ‘Green Car Loan’. These days, cars are perceived to play a vital role in polluting environment. We believe SBI Green Car Loan (Electric Vehicle) program would act as a change agent in auto loan segment and encourage customers to switch to electric vehicles which can improve overall air quality and lower carbon emissions”, P.K Gupta, MD (R&DB) SBI said.

The Union Cabinet recently approved the implementation of a program titled ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II (FAME India Phase II) with a total budget of ₹100 billion ($1.41 billion), and the duration of the program is three years with effect from April 1, 2019.

In line with the government’s plan, SBI has already announced 100% migration towards electric vehicles by 2030 to reduce carbon footprints. The bank also became the first major Indian organization along with Wipro to join the Climate Group’s EV100 initiative for accelerating the roll-out of electric vehicles worldwide.

In 2018, the European Investment Bank (EIB) had announced that it would increase its support to investment in the onshore wind through the expansion of an existing lending program with the State Bank of India. Under the agreement, promoters of onshore wind projects will be able to benefit from long-term low-cost financing under a dedicated €600 million (~$684 million) renewable energy financing program which is already supporting large-scale solar investment across India. Programs that could benefit from the expanded EIB-SBI financing have already been identified in several Indian states.

Before this, Mercom also reported in April 2017 when the EIB approved a €200 million (~$227 million), 20-year loan to SBI which was to be utilized to help develop large scale solar projects in India.

Soumik is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, Soumik was a correspondent for UNI, New Delhi covering the Northeast region for seven years. He has also worked as an Asia Correspondent for Washington DC-based Hundred Reporters. He has contributed as a freelancer to several national and international digital publications with a focus on data-based investigative stories on environmental corruption, hydro power projects, energy transition and the circular economy. Soumik is an Economics graduate from Scottish Church College, Calcutta University.