British International Investment

South Asia Growth Invest Holdings LP

South AsiaManufacturing

South Asia Growth Invest Holdings is the co-investment pooling investment vehicle funded by BII and GEF South Asia Growth Fund II to invest in Hero Motors, an Indian-headquartered manufacturer of components (incl. gears and transmissions) for electric bicycles and electric motorbikes.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

We invested into Hero Motors as a co-investment alongside GEF South Asia Growth Fund II, an India-only private equity fund focussed on resource efficiency solutions and climate technologies. We committed to GEF South Asia Growth Fund II in 2018.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact
  • Support the adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies to contribute to climate change mitigation (SDG 9.4, 13.a).
  • Support productive employment and decent work, and raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product through sustainable industrialisation (SDG 8.5, 9.2).

How?

Primary Secondary

By supporting the growth of electric vehicle component manufacturing capacity, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the increased adoption of e-bicycles and electric vehicles.

By supporting the creation of direct manufacturing jobs in in a low-carbon sector, in line with Just Transition principles.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Planet

Global

N/A
Employees

India

Permanent employees: 59 per cent blue collar/trainee workers, 41 per cent white collar; 94 per cent male.

Contractors: 42 per cent unskilled, 20 per cent semi-skilled, and 38 per cent skilled workers; 97 per cent male.

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

Growth plans to be part-funded by our co-investment are estimated to increase direct employment by 5-7 per cent. This implies approximately 60-85 additional direct jobs.

Greenhouse gas emissions abatement will vary by specific uses and final locations of e-bikes/electric vehicles, and based on factors such as internal combustion engine vehicle substitution and local power grid emission intensities. However, we have a high level of confidence there will be net emissions avoided given lower well-to-wheel emissions related to electric vehicle production, processing, and fuel use.

Employment growth to be concentrated in permanent direct production, semi-skilled and skilled jobs at Hero’s Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Mangli (Punjab) manufacturing plants.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: Capital is not offered in sufficient quantity, and our capital is required to avoid delays to Hero’s growth plan.

Risk

Evidence Risk
  • Risk that the company and fund manager will not be able to accurately estimate greenhouse gas emissions avoided by the investment due to lack of visibility on location and specific use cases of final E-bike/ electric vehicle products. Considered low risk given strong evidence base that electric vehicles represent a necessary modal shift to decarbonise the global transportation sector.
Alignment Risk
  • Relates to the risk that the company will change its focus away from growing its E-bike/electric vehicle components business and/or increase focus on expansions outside our investment geographies. Partly mitigated by business plan focus on expanding electric vehicle business line capacity in Indian plants, as well as GEF South Asia Growth Fund II board seat to monitor execution against the business plan.
Execution Risk
  • Relates to the risk of Hero’s E-bike/electric vehicle business expansion plan not materialising. Partly mitigated by Hero’s strong manufacturing track record and existing electric vehicle component product lines.

Impact score

Impact score (at point of investment)

The Impact Score is a tool to help us manage our performance against our strategic impact objectives. It is designed to incentivise investments that support our productive, sustainable, and inclusive objectives. You can find out more here.

The Impact Score is published for investments made from 2022 onwards. The Impact Scores are calculated at the point of investment. We publish the Impact Scores of new investments annually, once the information has been externally assured by an independent third party.

5

Understanding our impact information (PDF)

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We partnered with our fund manager to co-invest in this company, including by relying on our fund manager's ESDD and ESAP. We agreed on an ESAP focused on improving the management system implemented.

Environmental and social risk

Medium-High

Understanding our approach to environmental and social risk (PDF)

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk

  • Key facts
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
    :
    D6018
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
    :
    South Asia
    Country

    The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.
    :
    India
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Manufacturing

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.
    Investment type :
    Equity
    Start date :
    December 2022
    Amount :
    $5m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
    :
    India
    Climate finance

    Indicates whether the investment is climate finance qualified or partially climate finance qualified and the type of climate finance (adaptation, mitigation or both). We define climate finance using the multilateral development bank (MDB) and the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) Common Principles climate finance methodology. See Common Principles for Climate Mitigation Finance Tracking and Common Principles for Climate Change Adaptation Finance Tracking. We provide the climate finance qualification and type for commitments from 2020 onwards, which is when we launched our Climate Change Strategy.
    :
    Partially qualified
    Climate finance type:
    Mitigation

    Download as PDF

    Click here to read our data guidance

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