Creating Clean Energy Entrepreneurs through Affordable Financing

Transportation is an essential part of economic growth. But petroleum-fueled vehicles have created serious health problems for citizens in all major Indian cities and many poor people struggle to afford to purchase a vehicle. To address these challenges, SVCL, having a presence in central India, initiated financing E-Rickshaws in FY2016-17. Under this program, low-income group families were targeted who didn’t have enough capital to buy normal auto-rickshaws and were provided credit facilities to purchase E-Rickshaw so that their income generation capacity could go up. 
 
The credit, coupled with easy repayments, has helped the rickshaw driver manage his finances well and acquire an affordable asset. E-rickshaw more than doubled the income generation capacity and dramatically reduced drudgery. This intervention is impacting the lives of thousands of people who commute using eco-friendly affordable E-Rickshaws daily. More than 300 families are progressing well through this intervention and SVCL is committed to providing credit for 6000 E-rickshaws by 2022.