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					</table><p>The <a href="https://www.bii.co.uk/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">British International Investment</a> (BII), the United Kingdom’s development finance institution, has committed $33.5 million to India’s electric vehicle (EV) sector. This funding aims to strengthen the EV ecosystem, drive technological advancements, and address barriers to adoption, contributing to India’s energy transition and decarbonization goals.</p>
<p>The investment by BII includes $15 million in debt financing for <a href="https://everestfleet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everest Fleet</a>, enabling the company to expand its EV portfolio by adding 1,300 electric vehicles across six cities, including Bengaluru and Delhi. This move is expected to create employment opportunities for drivers and boost zero-emission vehicle adoption in urban areas.</p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://tiindia.com/ti-clean-mobility-private-limited/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TI Clean Mobility</a> will receive $15 million in equity investment to scale its manufacturing of low-carbon vehicles, including electric three-wheelers, trucks, and tractors.</p>
<p>BII will also provide $3.5 million in equity to <a href="https://vecmocon.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vecmocon</a>, which the company will use to enhance research and development for EV components like battery management systems and motor controllers and expand its presence in the commercial EV market.</p>
<p>BII’s investments align with its strategy of channeling $1 billion into climate-mitigating initiatives in India. Recent funding has also <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/charge-zone-secures-19-million" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supported</a> companies like <a href="https://www.chargezone.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ChargeZone</a>, which targets building 10,000 EV charging stations by 2027, and <a href="https://www.batterysmart.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Battery Smart</a>, a battery-swapping network.</p>
<p>These initiatives by BII complement earlier commitments, such as the $250 million partnership with <a href="https://www.mahindra.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mahindra &amp; Mahindra</a> to develop passenger EVs.</p>
<p>EV sales in India <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/electric-vehicle-sales-drop-q3-2024">reached</a> 332,730 units in the third quarter of 2024, a decline of over 11% year-over-year against the 372,387 units sold in the same period of 2023. EVs account for 5.8% of overall automobile sales, which totaled 5,697,879 units during the quarter. India now has 4.64 million registered EVs.</p>
<p>In September, the government <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/cabinet-pm-edrive-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> the ‘PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Program,’ and the ‘PM-eBus Sewa-Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) Program.’ The PM E-DRIVE Program, with a total outlay of ₹109 billion (~$1.29 billion), focuses on providing demand incentives, deploying EVs, and developing charging infrastructure to support wider EV adoption.</p>


BII Fuels India’s EV Ecosystem with $33.5 Million Investment


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					</table><p>India Grid Trust (<a href="https://www.indigrid.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IndiGrid</a>) has partnered with British International Investment (<a href="https://www.bii.co.uk/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BII</a>), the UK’s development finance institution, and impact investor <a href="https://www.norfund.no/the-climate-investment-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Norwegian Climate Investment Fund</a> managed by <a href="https://www.norfund.no/the-climate-investment-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Norfund</a>, and Techno Electric and Engineering Company (<a href="https://www.techno.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Techno</a>) to develop its greenfield Interstate Transmission System (ISTS) projects.</p>
<p>Under the partnership, BII and Norfund will invest in three of IndiGrid’s ISTS projects, which the company won last year. The projects that are under construction are Ishanagar Power Transmission (IPTL), Dhule Power Transmission (DPTL), and Kallam Transco (KTCO). These projects are expected to support evacuation of about 6 GW renewable energy in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.</p>
<p>Techno will also co-develop the IPTL and DPTL projects and invest minority capital.</p>
<p>During the financial year 2024, IndiGrid operationalized its first greenfield ISTS project, KTCO, and won five additional projects, across ISTS and Battery Energy Storage System, with a capex outlay of ₹20 billion (~ $238.26 million) to be deployed over the next 12-24 months.</p>
<p>Rohit Anand, Head of Infrastructure Equity, Asia at BII, said: &#8220;India requires a substantial investment of ₹4.75 trillion (~$56.59 billion) in the transmission sector to facilitate the integration of renewable energy capacities and meet its decarbonization goals. As a long-term partner and committed climate finance provider to India, we are delighted to bring not just our capital but also our ESG expertise to support the transmission sector, which is a vital part of India’s energy transition.&#8221;</p>
<p>Harsh Shah, CEO and Director of IndiGrid, said, &#8220;India’s commitment to energy transition and grid parity across renewable energy technologies, including BESS, is creating tremendous investment opportunities in our target areas. This offers a compelling prospect for investors who prioritize sustainability. Our partnership earlier with IFC and now with BII and Norfund is a testament to our strong commitment to aligning with leading ESG standards in our businesses.&#8221;</p>
<p>IndiGrid is the first Infrastructure Investment Trust in the Indian power sector. It owns 41 power projects consisting of 49 transmission lines.</p>
<p>Recently, the company <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/indigrids-q1-revenue-surges-32-7-on-strategic-acquisitions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that its first-quarter revenue of 2024 surged by 32.7% year-over-year, reaching ₹8.35 billion (~$99.7 million), up from ₹6.29 billion (~$75 million) in the same quarter last year. The company’s recent acquisitions aided its topline growth.</p>
<p>The company <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/indigrid-revenue-q4-fy-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recorded</a> revenue of ₹7.86 billion (~$94.59 million) during the fourth quarter of the financial year 2024, a 31% year-over-year increase. The company’s profit for the quarter was ₹584.87 million (~$7.04 million).</p>


BII, Norfund to Invest in IndiGrid’s 6 GW Renewable Energy ISTS Projects


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					</table><p><a href="https://www.bii.co.uk/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">British International Investment</a> (formerly CDC Group), a U.K. government-owned development finance institution, will invest up to $250 million in a new passenger electric vehicle (EV) venture to be launched by Mahindra &amp; Mahindra, a leading Indian automotive group.</p>
<p>British International&#8217;s investment is designed to accelerate the availability and adoption of EVs in India and other markets served by Mahindra and support an ecosystem of EV component manufacturers. The business will develop four-wheel passenger EVs for Indian consumers and other global markets.</p>
<p>The first round of British International&#8217;s capital investment will be completed before June 2023 on fulfillment of conditions precedent, and the rest post completion of specific milestones in the financial year 2024.</p>
<p>&#8220;The acceleration of EV development in India will be critical to supporting the country in reaching its emission targets as well as improving air quality in many urban areas. Mahindra will play a central role in the decarbonization of the automotive industry in India and elsewhere,&#8221; said Nick O&#8217; Donohoe, Chief Executive of BII.</p>
<p>The venture will also lead to the creation of around 8,000 skilled jobs – a quarter of which is expected to be women and contribute towards mitigating 2.1 million tons of C02 equivalent emission.</p>
<p>British International Investment and Mahindra will work together to attract other like-minded investors into the new EV business over the next few years as it goes on to create a world-class portfolio of electric SUVs. Mahindra will unveil its EV design philosophy and product line-up on August 15 at its site in Oxfordshire.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Mahindra Group aims to be Planet Positive by 2040. Mahindra has been a pioneer in the electric vehicles space, and we are confident we will be the leaders in the electric SUV market in the future,&#8221; said Anish Shah, MD &amp; CEO, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra.</p>
<p>In January, Mahindra and Hero Electric <a href="https://mercomindia.com/daily-news-wrap-up-hero-electric-partners-ev-manufacturing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a collaboration to create multiple synergies to help drive EV adoption in India. Mahindra would manufacture Hero&#8217;s two-wheeler EVs at its Pithampur plant.</p>
<p>Last year, Mahindra said it was <a href="https://mercomindia.com/news-wrap-up-flipkart-mahindra-ev-deployment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">partnering</a> with e-commerce giant Flipkart to augment the deployment of the latter&#8217;s logistics fleet with EVs. The partnership envisaged the deployment of 25,000 EVs for Flipkart by 2030.</p>


British International Investment Announces $250 Million for Mahindra’s EV Venture

<p>British International Investment (formerly <a href="https://www.cdcgroup.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CDC Group</a>), a U.K. government-owned development financial institution, announced an investment of $89 million for solar projects in India.</p>
<p>British International Investment (BII) is providing $47 million as part of a follow-on investment to the distributed solar company <a href="https://www.fourthpartner.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fourth Partner Energy</a> for projects totaling 294 MW. The projects will be developed across India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The latest funding brings BII&#8217;s total commitment to Fourth Partner Energy to $80 million.</p>
<p>BII had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/fourth-partner-energy-%e2%82%b92-5-billion-expand-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the first part of its investment in Fourth Partner Energy, amounting to ₹2.5 billion in April 2021.</p>
<p>The capacity expansion is expected to help commercial and industrial (C&amp;I) consumers avoid nearly 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.</p>
<p>BII is also lending $42 million in project debt to the 300 MW Thar Surya 1 solar project being built by the Indian subsidiary of <a href="https://www.enel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Enel</a>, an Italian gas and power utility company. The project is estimated at $200 million. The project is likely to mitigate 697,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and meet the equivalent demand of 151,000 consumers.</p>
<p>BII has a five-year strategy with a target to route 30% of its new investments towards climate finance. The investments are aimed to address challenges due to climate change, including decarbonizing the energy mix, building green energy capacity, and expanding renewables in countries where BII invests.</p>
<p>Speaking on the two investments, BII Managing Director and Head of Asia, Srini Nagarajan, said, &#8220;BII&#8217;s investments in Fourth Partner Energy and the Thar Solar P.V. project are a continuation of more than 30 years of experience of investing in India. These two investments demonstrate our commitment to leveraging our partnerships and expertise in the energy sector to help deploy clean, renewable energy at scale and support India&#8217;s green growth. We are pleased to put into action BII&#8217;s pledge to commit $1 billion in climate finance to India over the next five years.&#8221;</p>
<p>CDC has made strategic investments in India in past years, including a $30 million green lending <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cdc-30-million-green-lending-to-tata/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facility</a> to Tata Cleantech Capital to enhance water and energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has also <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cdc-invests-indias-green-equity-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invested</a> $70 million in the Green Growth Equity Fund, a climate change fund. The fund is managed by Eversource Capital, a joint venture between private equity fund Everstone Group and Lightsource bp, British Petroleum&#8217;s renewable energy platform.</p>


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