An infrastructure fund managed by BlueOrchard Finance Ltd (“BlueOrchard”), a leading global impact investment manager and member of the Schroders Group, is investing up to USD$8 million in ChargeZone®, one of the fastest growing electric vehicles (EV) charging companies in India.
The Indian automotive industry is the fifth largest in the world and is expected to become the third largest by 2030. Supplying such a huge domestic market with conventional, fuel-intensive forms of mobility is neither sustainable nor resource-efficient. The electrification of transport is key to achieving climate goals and EVs represent a promising solution to meet demand in a sustainable way.
An early mover in the EV space, ChargeZone® has positioned itself among the few credible players and is a front-runner in the market having concluded successful partnerships with the main EV manufacturers and e-mobility operators in the country. ChargeZone® has more than 3,000 charging points across more than 1,500 EV charging stations in operation or construction across 37 Indian cities (as of March 2023). The company commissioned India’s first ever EV charging hub for 50 electric buses in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2019 and India’s first solar-powered EV charging station in Patna in 2022. Since then, it provides charging services to reputed companies for their fleets of electric buses and electric cars. ChargeZone® aims to reach one million charging points by 2030. In addition, ChargeZone® will increasingly integrate solar and wind power generation for their charging stations wherever feasible.
“We see a large and growing market for electric vehicles, driven by the need for more sustainable transportation. With its strong management team comprised of industry and finance experts, ChargeZone is ideally positioned to capitalise on the opportunities in the Indian e-bus market. We look forward to working with ChargeZone® to advance the electrification of transportation in India and contribute to the country’s climate and environmental goals", said Aurelia Marti, Investment Manager, Infrastructure at BlueOrchard.
The funding arranged by BlueOrchard will support the company’s growth and finance an immediate roll-out of 286 charging stations serving 1,130 e-buses, avoiding emissions from internal combustion engines of diesel and petrol vehicles of 5,351 tons p.a. Over the long-term, the project will contribute directly and indirectly to the creation of at least 500 jobs.
“As a part of our Series A1 raise of US$54 million of equity and debt, we are excited to have BlueOrchard as part of our journey to build supercharging networks for EVs in India and other global markets. With crucial momentum being built up for the four-wheeler segment, we have planned a major capex program to expand our network and enable e-mobility across the fleet and single-user EV segments”, said Kartikey Hariyani, Founder & CEO, ChargeZone®.
Archis Management Advisors LLP acted as lead financial advisor to ChargeZone®.