mumbai small industries development bank of india sidbi has announced a new scheme under which it will provide direct finance at competitive rates for the purchase of electric vehicles evs to micro small and medium enterprises msmes this would cover vehicle aggregators fleet operators and leasing companies the financial institution will also fund nonbanking finance companies nbfcs that provide loans for ev purchases and push electrification in the threewheeler segmentthe direct finance will also be available to those developing charging infrastructure including batteryswapping the indirect scheme targeted at nbfcs will reach out to the last mile by inducing access to funds as well as reducing landed costs the sidbi scheme is part of its mission 50kev4eco which prioritises ev ecosystem development this is currently a pilot phase to strengthen the ev ecosystem including uptake for 2wheelers 3wheelers and 4wheelers through direct and indirect lendingthe scheme was introduced after the institution received feedback that access to adequate finance including a competitive rate of interest is a challenge faced by msmes as well as nbfcs catering to the ev ecosystem on the supply side bankers perceived these projects as high risk in line with the national mission of ev3030 sidbi has adopted ev as a priority and by launching mission 50kev4eco we intend to promote the entire ev value chain this pilot shall be followed by scaling up support to the ecosystem from multilateral support said sidbi cmd sivasubramanian ramann nbfcs play an important role in the enterprise growth strategy of sidbi they have shown willingness and ability to reach the bottom of the pyramid businesses especially in creditdeficient geographies adoption of innovative and nimble credit delivery models and understanding of the local ecosystem electric vehicle financing is predominantly being done by smallunrated nbfcs ramann added according to niti aayog adviser infra emobility sudhendu sinha india has set an ambitious climate change mitigation target and has committed to lowcarbon growth in the energy and transport sectors the transition to electric vehicles evs is a critical cornerstone for the transport sectors decarbonisationelectric 23 wheelers e23ws offer the greatest potential for ev adoption in india accounting for 79 of passenger road activity and are already costcompetitive relative to conventional vehicles to support indias commitment to ev3030 sidbi taking the lead in launching the mission50kev4eco scheme is a step in the right direction said sinhaniti aayog the governments think tank also houses the national mission for transformative mobility battery storage that is driving emobility all over the country