NEW DELHI :Germany’s state-owned development bank KfW is in discussions with New Delhi to finance India’s ambitious electric mobility scheme. In August, the Union cabinet approved a ₹57,613-crore scheme to introduce 10,000 electric buses in 169 cities.
KfW, which has extended financial support to high-profile metro projects in India, has held talks with the government, including the ministry of housing and urban affairs, on extending support to the project. The German bank has been working in India since 1958.
India will provide ₹20,000 crore for the scheme, which will be implemented as a public private partnership and aim to improve urban bus services.
“The support to bus priority infrastructure shall not only accelerate the proliferation of state-of-the-art, energy efficient electric buses but also foster the innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as development of resilient supply chain for electric vehicles,” reads a press release from the ministry of housing and urban affairs in August.
Queries mailed to the ministry of external affairs and KfW Bank’s New Delhi office were not answered by press time. A query was also mailed to the ministry of housing and urban affairs.
KfW Bank works on behalf of the German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development (BMZ) to finance projects in developing nations.
The bank’s activities in India have been focused on sustainable energy generation, urban development, sustainable mobility and climate, among other things.
“As the percentage of the Indian population living in urban centres is expected to rise to 50% by 2050, the development of climate-resilient infrastructure in cities is an important factor for India.
Green urban mobility is also being promoted. This includes expanding metro and underground lines in Mumbai and other cities, improving bus transport, switching to electric buses and creating better links between the various transport systems,” reads KfW’s website, explaining its infrastructure investments in India.
In 2016, KfW signed an €85 million loan agreement to finance the development of a water metro system in Kochi. That same year, KfW agreed to provide a €500 million loan to finance the Nagpur metro.
“Since the beginning of the German development cooperation in 1958, India has received government commitments totalling €13 billion, which is the highest amount worldwide,” reads the KfW website.
Germany is also expected to increase its funding for development activities in India.
During a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in 2022, Germany committed a sum of €10 billion in development funding to India by 2030.
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