British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, has made an investment commitment of $19 million in CHARGE ZONE, which is India’s fastest-growing electric vehicle (EV) charging network.

With this new capital injection, CHARGE ZONE is expected to expedite the expansion of its high-speed charging network for electric cars, buses and trucks across key cities and highways in India. This enables the company to roll out more than 1500 super-charging stations over the next 18 months and reach a portfolio of over 10,000 charging stations by 2027. 

This forms part of their long-term plan to create a network of one million charging points by 2030. 

To fund the expansion, CHARGE ZONE has successfully raised a total of $54 million from investors.

Infra gap

“As the UK’s DFI with a focus on providing climate finance, we continue to play a key role in accelerating India’s clean energy transition. Our support of CHARGE ZONE’s expansion will address the challenge of an underdeveloped EV charging infrastructure, facilitate a more sustainable transportation system and make EVs a viable and accessible option for many across the country,” Srini Nagarajan, Managing Director and Head of Asia at BII, said.

Kartikey Hariyani, Founder and CEO of CHARGE ZONE, said: “Our partnership with BII is integral to our mission of driving widespread adoption of electric vehicles in India”.

With this infusion of capital, CHARGE ZONE will accelerate our efforts in deploying charging stations, ensuring that EV drivers across the nation experience unparalleled convenience and reliability, Hariyani said.

This investment is not just about funding; it’s a catalyst for transformation, empowering us to usher in a new era of electric mobility in India, Hariyani added.

Sustainability vision

Maheep Jain, CHARGE ZONE’s Board Member and Managing Director, Macquarie Capital said, “CHARGE ZONE is addressing a critical bottleneck for EV adoption by developing a dense and reliable fast charging network. This commitment from BII will help accelerate CHARGE ZONE’s network expansion and support the Indian government’s EV ambitions.”

Jain highlighted that the automotive sector in India is heavily reliant on oil imports and is a large contributor of carbon emissions. With declining costs of electric vehicles and stable policy support, this sector is undergoing a multi-decade transformation towards electric mobility, Jain added.

CHARGE ZONE’s expansion strategy will focus on key markets such as Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai where the demand for EV charging infrastructure is rapidly growing.

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