BluSmart To Triple Fleet Size With PFCs ₹633 Crore Loan

Gensol, BluSmart’s parent company, will also use the loan to finance 1000 electric cargo three-wheelers and lease them out last-mile delivery partners, Jaggi added. BluSmart currently operates in the cities of Delhi and Bengaluru, and hopes to expand its coverage in the two cities as it expands its fleet.

The ₹633 crore loan is one of the largest EV asset finance transactions in India. The loan was sanctioned by PFC, a leading non-banking financial company in the Indian power sector. The first tranche of the loan has already been disbursed, and the first lot of EV cabs has been rolled out in Delhi. The loan will be spread out over the next two quarters, BluSmart said.

“E-mobility adoption is going on at a fast pace in the country, and we believe that there is huge potential in this field. Through this funding, PFC has endeavoured to contribute towards India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) goals, and this will go a long way for moving towards a healthy and sustainable mode of transport", Ravinder Singh Dhillon, CMD, PFC said.

“With the government’s push towards clean mobility, electric vehicles are rapidly gaining popularity in the country. Fulfilling the government’s vision, Power Finance Corporation, the nation’s largest power sector lender, is investing its efforts towards creating EV infrastructure, reducing dependency on fossil fuel, adoption of EVs in the country and contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions from the transportation sector. In addition, the Delhi EV Policy aims to accelerate EV penetration across all vehicle segments so that 25% of all newly registered vehicles will be EVs by 2024", Jaggi told Mint.

The loan is a part of PFC’s vision of accelerating India’s net-zero goal. PFC, apart from funding renewables in a big way, has been exploring opportunities in debt funding of EVs (OEMs and fleet acquisition), battery OEMs, and EV charging infrastructure, PFC said in a press release.

BluSmart has raised $75 million (in equity and venture debt) by BP Ventures, Mayfield, Survam Partners, and 9Unicorn fund, among others. It has also secured EV asset financing of a total of $150 million by DFIs, including financing funds of $35 million from IREDA. The company is looking to expand its market share of the electric vehicle mobility segment by partnering with companies like PFC to fuel its growth.

“As we responsibly scale BluSmart’s footprint across India, partners like PFC will fuel our growth and help increase our market share of the electric vehicle mobility segment", Jaggi said.