JBM ECOLIFE Mobility, a subsidiary of electric bus manufacturer JBM Auto, has secured a $100 million long-term capital investment from International Financial Corporation (IFC) to deploy 1,455 air-conditioned electric buses (e-bus) across cities in Maharashtra, Assam, and Gujarat.

In a bourse filing, the company said this is IFC’s first capital investment in the e-bus sector in Asia and its largest globally.

JBM ECOLIFE operates e-buses in several cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, and Cuttack, and plans to expand further, targeting operations of more than 6,500 buses within the next two years.

The company has deployed over 2,500 e-buses across 10 states and 15 airports and is executing an order book of 11,000 units. Its Delhi-NCR manufacturing facility has an annual capacity of 20,000 e-buses. Since 2018, JBM’s electric fleet has covered 200 million kilometers, saving over 600 million liters of diesel.

Highlighting the significance of buses in India’s mobility landscape, accounting for 70–75% of public transport trips, JBM noted the electrification potential in a country with nearly 2 million buses in operation.

Last year, JBM secured $100 million in funding from the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to support e-bus supply and operations under the gross cost contract model across multiple states. The funding was obtained following thorough Environmental, Social, and Governance audits conducted by approved consultants.

In September last year, the Union Cabinet approved the ‘PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Program,’ and the ‘PM-eBus Sewa-Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) Program.’

The PM E-DRIVE Program, with a total outlay of ₹109 billion (~$1.29 billion), focuses on providing demand incentives, deploying electric vehicles (EV), and developing charging infrastructure to support wider EV adoption.

The PSM Program, with an outlay of ₹34.35 billion (~$409 million), will support the procurement and operation of over 38,000 electric buses from FY 2024-25 to FY 2028-29.