New Delhi, June 6 (KNN) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) on Monday announced the launch of mission EVOLVE (Electric Vehicle Operations and Lending for Vibrant Ecosystem) in association with NITI Aayog, World Bank, Korean-World Bank and Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) to finance MSMEs in the Electronic Vehicle (EV) sector. 

The apex regulatory body for MSMEs will give MSMEs access to affordable commercial financing for EV loans.

It will include hosting of telematics that could help reduce financing costs and provide data for other financial services.

The programme comes in the backdrop of SIDBI’s aim to support India’s target for 30 per cent EV penetration by 2030 or EV30@30. 

“Addressing the challenges of high-interest rates and limited availability of financing to the EV sector, EVOLVE unlocks access to affordable commercial financing for EV Loans,” SIDBI said in a statement. 

S Ramann, CMD, SIDBI emphasized on creating a database of the EV ecosystem to understand and extend the life of the EVs. 

“The data would be available for policymakers to assess the gaps and further strengthen the EV ecosystem,” he said. 

Earlier in April, SIDBI had announced a pilot scheme Mission 50,000-EV4ECO under guidance from NITI Aayog to fund MSMEs finding it difficult to access loans to purchase EVs such as two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers for their day-to-day operations and commercial use. The mission aims to finance 50,000 EVs.  (KNN Bureau)