The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, plans to invest $8 million in Lithium Urban Technologies Private Limited, a corporate employee transportation (CET) aggregator in India.
IFC has proposed to invest $8 million through Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) as a part of Lithium’s fund-raising round with additional capital being provided by other investors. IFC is funding the project with aims to help in the avoidance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by introducing more electric vehicles (EVs) in urban transport and displacing fuel-based vehicles which are a significant source of India’s GHG emissions.
IFC anticipates that the project will help create jobs for about 8,000-10,000 drivers over the next five years.
Beyond the project, the expansion will also promote sustainability in urban transport by demonstrating the viability and feasibility of EVs in the market and facilitate the adoption of EVs and contribute to national carbon emission targets with potential demonstration effects for other players to follow with similar projects.