Our investment
Description of the investment.
Description of the investment.
We have committed $19 million to CHARGE ZONE, India’s fastest-growing electric vehicle (EV) charging network. With this new capital, CHARGE ZONE will expand its high-speed charging network for electric cars, buses, and trucks across key cities and highways in India. This enables the company to reach its target portfolio of over 10,000 charging stations by 2027.
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.
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 |
|---|
Our investment aims to upgrade and retrofit infrastructure with greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies to contribute to climate change mitigation through net reductions in transport-related greenhouse gas emissions (SDGs 9.4, 13.a) |
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How?
| Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|
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Finance the expansion of CHARGE ZONE’s electric vehicle charging station network in India to support the shift to electric vehicles through the provision of critical enabling infrastructure to increase electric vehicle uptake. This is part of India’s transition to a net zero emissions economy. |
Finance the expansion of CHARGE ZONE’s electric vehicle charging station network in India to reduce net transport sector greenhouse gas emissions by enabling the replacement of gas/diesel vehicles with electric vehicles. |
Who?
| Stakeholder | Geography | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Planet |
Global |
N/A |
How much?
| Scale | Depth/Duration |
|---|---|
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This enables the company to reach its target portfolio of over 10,000 charging stations by 2027. |
Depth of potential net greenhouse gas emissions avoided is variable depending on utilisation rates, vehicle type and use case/distance travelled, and future prevailing electricity generation emission factors. |
Contribution/additionality
| Contribution/additionality |
|---|
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Financial additionality: Commercial capital is not available in sufficient quantity to meet electric vehicle charging infra deployment needs in India. |
Risk
Evidence RiskRelates to the difficulty of measuring and monitoring the investment impact on supporting increased adoption of electric vehicles and reduced transport sector emissions in India. Considered low given how critical electric vehicle charging infra is for achieving net zero, and the alignment of impact with the business model. This makes operational indicators appropriate proxies to track impact performance. External RiskRisk that the electric vehicle market fails to develop in India as expected due to external factors, undermining the investment’s economic enabling and direct impact potential. Considered low given strong policy focus on increasing electric vehicle penetration and increasing awareness of lower total cost of ownership for electric vehicles vs. gas/diesel vehicles. Directly correlated with commercial risk. |
Impact score
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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. |
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6 |
Environmental and social information
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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.
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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 are working with the company to strengthen their approach on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management, supply chain risk management and grievance management across their projects.
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
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Key facts
- First published
:
When the investment was first published on the website database.
- June 2024
- Last updated
:
When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
- September 2024
- Project number
:
An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
- D6354
- 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
- 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.
- Utlities
- Investment type :
- Debt
- Start date :
- April 2024
- Amount :
- $18m
- Currency of investment :
- INR
- Domicile
:
The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
- India
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.
- 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.
- Fully qualified
- Climate finance type:
- Mitigation
- First published
