JSW Green Mobility backs Lithium Urban’s EV fleet expansion

• Company targets 3x growth in 2 years
• Planned expansion is expected to create 12,000-15,000 jobs while strengthening the company's integrated e-mobility platform

Lithium Urban Technologies, one of India’s leading integrated enterprise mobility platforms, today announced a strategic investment from JSW Green Mobility.

The Company has built an integrated mobility platform spanning electric fleets, charging infrastructure, fleet intelligence systems and centralised operational command capabilities. Today, the company manages over 25,000 trips daily through a network of more than 3,000 vehicles and 1,300 chargers, serving over 100 enterprise customers.

Dhanpal Jhaveri, Chief Executive Officer, Eversource Capital, said: "Mobility is increasingly becoming an ecosystem play, where value will accrue not to individual assets, but to platforms that can integrate infrastructure, technology and operations at scale. Lithium has built a business with strong operating foundations and this investment by JSW Green Mobility provides significant headroom for growth. By combining fleets, charging infrastructure, intelligent mobility systems and centralised operational oversight within a single platform, Lithium has developed capabilities that are increasingly difficult to replicate at scale. We look forward to this partnership with JSW Group, whose long-term orientation and industrial lineage add an important dimension to Lithium as it enters its next phase of value creation.”

The strategic partnership will accelerate Lithium’s expansion as demand for reliable, technology-enabled and sustainable mobility solutions continues to grow across enterprise and digital mobility ecosystems.

Parth Jindal, of JSW Group, said: “India’s mobility landscape is undergoing a structural transformation, driven by rapid urbanisation, electrification and the growing scale of digital commerce. We believe the future will be shaped by integrated, technology-led mobility platforms that can deliver reliability, operational efficiency and scale. Lithium has built a differentiated business with strong execution capabilities and high-quality infrastructure. We are excited to partner with Lithium Urban as it accelerates growth and helps shape the future of clean mobility in India.”

Don Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Lithium Urban Technologies, said: "India's commercial mobility sector continues to be dominated by conventional fuel-powered vehicles. The opportunity ahead is not simply to replace vehicles, but to build the infrastructure, operating systems and technology capabilities required to make electrification work at scale.

Over the last decade, we have built that foundation — spanning charging infrastructure, fleet intelligence systems and centralised Network Operations Centres. We believe the market will increasingly shift to organised platforms that can deliver reliability, safety and operational efficiency. Lithium’s technology-enabled platform is well-positioned to accelerate that transition.

We are pleased to welcome JSW Green Mobility as a strategic investor. Their partnership will help us accelerate electric fleet deployment, expand charging infrastructure and continue strengthening the technology capabilities that underpin our platform."

The investment marks the next phase of growth for Lithium as it continues to expand its fleet, charging infrastructure and technology capabilities. With transportation systems becoming increasingly electrified, connected and software-enabled, it is focused on building the scale and operating capabilities required to support India's evolving mobility needs. Meresis Advisors acted as the exclusive financial advisor to this transaction.

For Employee Commute, Nagarro launches Electric Vehicle Fleet in Collab with Lithium Urban Technologies

Nagarro, one of the leading IT consulting and services companies in the country, today launched its Electric Vehicle fleet for employee commute. The electric cars are deployed in partnership with Lithium Urban Technologies, India’s first EV cab services company. The EV fleet was inaugurated by Shri T.C. Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Transport, Haryana.

Beginning with an annual investment of around INR 10 million on the transition, it is a phase wise shift from petrol/ diesel and CNG vehicles and in first phase 20% of the fleet is being moved to electric mobility which will eventually go up to 50% by the end of year. With this phase Nagarro’s target is to reduce 150MT of CO2 emissions annually.

[caption id="attachment_134550" align="aligncenter" width="932"] Mr T C Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary to Haryana, Transport Department[/caption]

The launch is in line with Nagarro’s green mobility initiative under which the company aims to gradually move towards a completely clean and green employee transport system. It has also set up 2 fast charging stations at its premise to facilitate its employees who own or are willing to buy personal electric cars. Nagarro has also deployed e-scooters and e-bicycles for its employees to further improve last mile connectivity in a bid to encourage green public commuting habit among employees.

Mr T C Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary to Haryana, Transport Department said, “This initiative to adopt electric vehicle is a significant step towards reducing air pollution. Haryana government will be releasing the electric vehicle policy in next 15 days. We have categorized charging of electric vehicle as a service and not as sale of electricity. In fact, charging of electric vehicles will be eligible for domestic tariff for electricity. As part of Haryana Vision Zero, the transport department will buy new electric buses too. Further, we are also focusing on improving road safety and in line with our efforts we have witnessed a reduction of 7% in road accident related deaths between January 2019 to June 2019 and 11% reduction in July 2019 itself."

Mr. Manas Fuloria, CEO, Nagarro said, “Gandhiji said, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. If we want cleaner skies in Delhi-NCR, we must embrace EVs aggressively. Since every new technology has teething issues, Nagarro has decided to adopt and incentivize adoption of EVs among our 5000 colleagues in Delhi-NCR."

According to Sanjay Krishnan, CEO, Lithium, “We are delighted to partner with Nagarro in enabling the switch to EV. I want to express my sincere thanks to Manas Fuloria and his team who made this switch possible in convenient manner. We also hope that this successful launch would inspire other companies to adopt the much-needed transition towards electric mobility.”

Bengaluru-based EV Cab Startup Lithium Urban To Raise $8 Mn from Wold Bank's IFC

Bengaluru-based Lithium Urban Technologies (Lithium), a electric vehicle (EV) cab provider to corporate sector, has roped in International Finance corporation (IFC) for proposed $8 million investment for an equity. IFC, which is World Bank's investment arm, offers investment, advisory and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in developing countries.

Lithium, which currently provides electric cab services to corporate customers in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR, plans to expand its operations in other part of the country, apart from entering other businesses in electric mobility, which are currently being piloted.

IFC’s investment is part of the startup’s fund-raising round with additional capital being provided by other investors to expand the footprint. IFC is considering an equity or quasi equity type of investment in the company. The investment will be through Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) as part of the company's fund-raising round.

Founded in 2014 by Sanjay Krishnan, who is also the founder of early-2000's internet startup India.com, Lithium provides business critical corporate employee transportation (CET) to blue chip companies in information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITES) sector by providing a fleet of electric vehicles. The company was incorporated in October 2014 and began operations in July 2015.

Lithium, which has raised $5 million in debt and equity so far, currently has a fleet of about 350 electric vehicles and is planning to expand the fleet in line with market demand. It currently has operations in Bengaluru and NCR and has plans to expand to Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai. The startup follows an asset model under which it buys its vehicles and provides transportation services to its clients through drivers.

Besides offering corporate employee transportation service through EVs, Lithium also offers DC-fast charging infrastructure and integrated fleet management technology to companies with large employee base and predictable travel schedules. Lithium plans to enter other business in electric mobility, which are currently being piloted.

Moreover, the EV startup has signed an agreement with the government to provide 60 electric chargers across the Delhi-NCR region for public use, for which it will get financial assistance from the government. The company now wants to add to this infrastructure and is working on partnerships with private players to achieve this end.

Coming back to IFC's investment in Lithium, the disclosure document mentioned that IFC’s involvement with the project will help Lithium adopt a structured framework to manage its social and environmental systems which will act as a benchmark for a sector that is serviced by largely unorganised players.

IFC will help Lithium to develop corporate governance standards. Lithium is in the process of scaling up operations and IFC’s investment at this stage will provide the company with patient capital needed for the growth phase as it explores new avenues for EV applications.

Electric Mobility Activities in India

Earlier this month, India's automobile major Mahindra's EV subsidiary Mahindra Electric started deploying a fleet of 100 units of its small electric car Mahindra e2o in Delhi to be available to consumers on rent in partnership with Bengaluru-based self-drive car rental firm Zoomcar.

In this same month, a Mumbai-based startup called Strom Motors has unveiled an electric car that would cost mere ₹3 lakh. The electric car however is of compact segment and unlike other e-cars has three wheels instead of four.

In January, IndianWeb2 reported that Hriman Motors, a Delhi-based startup, is working on building a 2-Seater electric car which one can rent for 50 Paise per kilometer. The electric car will have a battery that will never need to be replaced and will be IoT-enabled. The car is expected to launch in mid of this year.

A draft of India’s 10-year energy blueprint has revealed that the government is expecting as much as 57 percent of the country’s total electricity capacity to come from non-fossil fuel sources by the year 2027 -- a significant increase over the India's Paris agreement targets, which has asked the member countries to reach 40 percent non-fossil fuel electricity by the year 2030.

Last May, Indian government established policy think tank, Niti Aayog, released a report called Transformative Mobility Solutions for India wherein it revealed India's plan for electric cars and charging stations infrastructure.

In the same month, India’s home-grown cab hailing firm, Ola had launched - Ola Electric, India’s first multi-modal electric platform that includes electric autos, cars, and buses in Nagpur. Ola and Mahindra have had partnered with the Government of India in a first-of- its-kind programme to build an electric mass mobility ecosystem in Nagpur which will bring about a transformational change in the automotive and transportation landscape in the country.

The above news was first reported in Financial Express.

Bengaluru-based EV Cab Startup Lithium Urban To Raise $8 Mn from Wold Bank's IFC

Bengaluru-based Lithium Urban Technologies (Lithium), a electric vehicle (EV) cab provider to corporate sector, has roped in International Finance corporation (IFC) for proposed $8 million investment for an equity. IFC, which is World Bank's investment arm, offers investment, advisory and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in developing countries.

Lithium, which currently provides electric cab services to corporate customers in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR, plans to expand its operations in other part of the country, apart from entering other businesses in electric mobility, which are currently being piloted.

IFC’s investment is part of the startup’s fund-raising round with additional capital being provided by other investors to expand the footprint. IFC is considering an equity or quasi equity type of investment in the company. The investment will be through Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) as part of the company's fund-raising round.

Founded in 2014 by Sanjay Krishnan, who is also the founder of early-2000's internet startup India.com, Lithium provides business critical corporate employee transportation (CET) to blue chip companies in information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITES) sector by providing a fleet of electric vehicles. The company was incorporated in October 2014 and began operations in July 2015.

Lithium, which has raised $5 million in debt and equity so far, currently has a fleet of about 350 electric vehicles and is planning to expand the fleet in line with market demand. It currently has operations in Bengaluru and NCR and has plans to expand to Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai. The startup follows an asset model under which it buys its vehicles and provides transportation services to its clients through drivers.

Besides offering corporate employee transportation service through EVs, Lithium also offers DC-fast charging infrastructure and integrated fleet management technology to companies with large employee base and predictable travel schedules. Lithium plans to enter other business in electric mobility, which are currently being piloted.

Moreover, the EV startup has signed an agreement with the government to provide 60 electric chargers across the Delhi-NCR region for public use, for which it will get financial assistance from the government. The company now wants to add to this infrastructure and is working on partnerships with private players to achieve this end.

Coming back to IFC's investment in Lithium, the disclosure document mentioned that IFC’s involvement with the project will help Lithium adopt a structured framework to manage its social and environmental systems which will act as a benchmark for a sector that is serviced by largely unorganised players.

IFC will help Lithium to develop corporate governance standards. Lithium is in the process of scaling up operations and IFC’s investment at this stage will provide the company with patient capital needed for the growth phase as it explores new avenues for EV applications.

Electric Mobility Activities in India

Earlier this month, India's automobile major Mahindra's EV subsidiary Mahindra Electric started deploying a fleet of 100 units of its small electric car Mahindra e2o in Delhi to be available to consumers on rent in partnership with Bengaluru-based self-drive car rental firm Zoomcar.

In this same month, a Mumbai-based startup called Strom Motors has unveiled an electric car that would cost mere ₹3 lakh. The electric car however is of compact segment and unlike other e-cars has three wheels instead of four.

In January, IndianWeb2 reported that Hriman Motors, a Delhi-based startup, is working on building a 2-Seater electric car which one can rent for 50 Paise per kilometer. The electric car will have a battery that will never need to be replaced and will be IoT-enabled. The car is expected to launch in mid of this year.

A draft of India’s 10-year energy blueprint has revealed that the government is expecting as much as 57 percent of the country’s total electricity capacity to come from non-fossil fuel sources by the year 2027 -- a significant increase over the India's Paris agreement targets, which has asked the member countries to reach 40 percent non-fossil fuel electricity by the year 2030.

Last May, Indian government established policy think tank, Niti Aayog, released a report called Transformative Mobility Solutions for India wherein it revealed India's plan for electric cars and charging stations infrastructure.

In the same month, India’s home-grown cab hailing firm, Ola had launched - Ola Electric, India’s first multi-modal electric platform that includes electric autos, cars, and buses in Nagpur. Ola and Mahindra have had partnered with the Government of India in a first-of- its-kind programme to build an electric mass mobility ecosystem in Nagpur which will bring about a transformational change in the automotive and transportation landscape in the country.

The above news was first reported in Financial Express.