Vertelo will provide end-to-end solutions for fleet electrification in India. The new platform has secured anchor financing from the Green Climate Fund, which has promised to invest up to $200 million. Vertelo intends to invest $1.5 billion over ten years with the goal of achieving a possible greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 9.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Macquarie Asset Management, the investment arm of Australia’s Macquarie Group, plans to invest $1.5 billion (about INR 12,500 crore) in India’s electric car industry through its recently launched platform, Vertelo.
Vertelo will provide comprehensive fleet electrification solutions in India.
The company’s goal is to speed fleet transitions to electric vehicles and develop a strong EV ecosystem by providing customers with a variety of options such as leasing and financing, charging infrastructure and energy solutions, fleet management services, and end-of-vehicle life management.
The Green Climate Fund has made an anchor investment in the new platform, committing up to $200 million.
Vertelo intends to invest $1.5 billion over a 10-year period with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 9.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The corporation supports India’s vehicle electrification aim of 40% electric buses and 70% electric commercial vehicles by 2030, it added.
“The move to electric vehicles would provide tremendous benefits to India by enhancing energy independence and lessening the effects of climate change. Vertelo intends to play a critical role in quickening this shift by making it simple for its customers to reap the benefits of turning electric right away,” stated Abhishek Poddar, India Country Head of Macquarie Group.
Meanwhile, Vertelo has struck a long-term lease arrangement with transportation technology startup Chalo Mobility to offer 44 electric buses produced by JBM, India’s biggest electric bus manufacturer, for use in Mumbai.
In addition, to fulfill expanding customer demand, Vertelo has negotiated arrangements with numerous OEMs, including JBM and Eka Mobility, to purchase up to 2,000 electric buses from each partner over the next three to five years, as well as a deal with Tata Motors to purchase up to 2,000 electric automobiles over the next three years.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared earlier this year that the government will strengthen its efforts to promote electric vehicle (EV) adoption in India. The FM stated that the government will promote the use of electric buses for public transportation by implementing a payment security mechanism.
A new plan, agreed by the Union Cabinet earlier in August 2023, called for the public-private partnership (PPP) model to be used to deploy 10,000 electric buses, or ebuses, in 169 cities.
Furthermore, in December 2023, India collaborated with the US government and American philanthropic groups as part of a $390 million joint finance mechanism to put more than 50,000 electric buses on the country’s roadways by 2027.
