JBM ECOLIFE Mobility Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of JBM Auto Ltd. and one of India’s leading electric bus and EV ecosystem players, has secured a $100 million (INR equivalent) long-term capital investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to scale up its electric bus operations across India.
According to the company, the funds will finance the purchase and operation of 1,455 modern, air-conditioned electric buses in Maharashtra, Assam and Gujarat, boosting public transport electrification under the Pradhan Mantri e-Bus Sewa Scheme. The investment also marks IFC’s first capital investment in the e-bus sector in Asia and its largest globally.
“This initiative serves as a strategic beginning to many more upcoming associations towards augmenting e-bus deployment with enhanced agility and scale,” said Nishant Arya, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, JBM Auto Ltd. “With trusted partners like IFC, we aim to reduce CO₂ emissions by over 1.6 billion kilograms, save over 600 million litres of diesel, generate employment for 5,500 people and touch the lives of over a billion passengers over the project tenure.”
Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of IFC, called e-mobility “the future” and said IFC’s investment in JBM aims to set benchmarks for sustainable, resilient and globally replicable urban transport. By leveraging innovative financing and payment security mechanisms, the project is expected to mitigate payment risks associated with state transport undertakings and enhance the bankability of future e-bus projects.
Buses account for about 70–75% of public transport trips in India, making them the backbone of the country’s mobility system. With over two million buses in operation, the government has set a target of 40% electric penetration by FY2030.
JBM already operates 2,500+ electric buses across 10 states and 15 airports, with an order book of 11,000 e-buses under execution. Its dedicated Delhi-NCR facility—among the world’s largest e-bus plants—has an annual capacity of 20,000 units. Since 2018, JBM’s e-buses have clocked 200 million e-kilometres and served 1 billion passengers.