Adani TotalEnergies, Jio-bp and JBM eye Fortum's EV charging business
Summary
Fortum Oyj's GLIDA EV charging network in India has 180 stations. This move is in line with Fortum's broader strategy to reduce its presence in the country.
New Delhi: Finnish state-run energy power utility Fortum Oyj’s efforts to offload a majority stake in its electric vehicle (EV) charging network business in India has zeroed in on three potential suitors–Adani TotalEnergies E-mobility Ltd (ATEL), Reliance BP Mobility Ltd (Jio-bp) and Gurugram-headquartered electric bus manufacturer JBM Group–according to two people aware of the development.
“Adani TotalEnergies, Jio-bp and JBM Group have signed NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) and are evaluating the deal, post which bids will be submitted," one of the two people cited above said, requesting anonymity.
Also read | Hexa Climate Solutions acquires Fortum’s green energy portfolio in India
London-based Opus Corporate Finance Llp is running the transaction (termed Butterfly) for the EV charging business GLIDA, formerly known as Fortum Charge & Drive India.
The development comes in the backdrop of Fortum’s renewable energy platform Fortum India Pvt Ltd (FIPL), including carbon credits, being acquired by Hexa Climate Solutions, which is backed by New York-based I Squared Capital, as Mint reported earlier. A formal announcement to this effect was made on Wednesday.
Exit signal
The latest deal, once it fructifies, would signal the exit of Fortum Oyj from India, a market it entered in 2012. “GLIDA is the last transaction left for Fortum in India after the FIPL sale to Hexa," the person cited above said.
GLIDA has around 180 EV charging stations with 850 charging points across the country. ATEL, on its part, has 3,401 installed EV public charging points.
A Fortum Corporation spokesperson in an emailed response said, “As a listed company, we do not comment on any market rumours or speculations."
Queries emailed to the spokespersons of ATEL, Reliance BP Mobility Ltd, JBM Group, and Opus Corporate Finance on Tuesday afternoon remained unanswered till press time.
ATEL is a subsidiary of Adani Total Gas Ltd, which is a joint venture (JV) between Adani Group and France’s TotalEnergies. Reliance BP Mobility Ltd is a JV between Reliance Industries Ltd and bp, and has installed around 500 EV charging stations with 5,000 charging points. JBM Group’s flagship firm JBM Auto Ltd. is one of India’s largest electric bus manufacturers, with the group operating over 1,000 fast chargers.
Fortum’s gradual exit from India
Fortum Oyj had earlier announced that it would limit its exposure in India and was evaluating alternatives for its remaining operations in the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. This resulted in gas supply disruption and substantive losses to Fortum's majority-owned Uniper, which was subsequently sold to the German government at a loss of around €6 billion. Also, the Russian Federation confiscated Fortum's Russian plants valued at around €5 billion.
Also read | Actis, Brookfield vie for Fortum’s India solar assets
In transactions that were announced starting 8 June 2018 to 3 May 2024, Fortum India has sold 700 MW of solar power plants to Actis Llp; another 230 MW to UK Climate Investments and Elite Alfred Berg; and 185 MW to Malaysia’s state-run oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd or Petronas’s unit Gentari.
The current transaction comes in the backdrop of Hyderabad-headquartered AM Green acquiring Oulu-headquartered biotechnology firm Chempolis Oy, in which Fortum has a stake, and also Fortum and Chempolis’s 50% stake in their joint venture–Assam Bio Refinery Private Limited, as reported by Mint earlier. AM Green was set up by the founders of Greenko Group–Mahesh Kolli and Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty.
India’s growing EV charging infrastructure
India currently has around 25,202 EV public charging stations (EVPCS), with close to a fifth or ₹2,000 crore of a ₹10,900 crore central government scheme allocated for setting them up.
Under the PM E-drive (PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement) scheme, the government plans to set up 22,100 public charging stations for electric cars; 48,400 stations for electric bikes, scooters, and three-wheelers; and 1,800 stations for electric trucks and buses by 31 March 2026.
India has announced a number of schemes for promoting green mobility–including the ₹3,435.33-crore PM e-Bus Sewa-Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) scheme for deploying 38,000 electric buses; and a ₹18,100-crore PLI scheme for advanced chemistry cell (ACC) manufacturing, among others.
Also read | AM Green enters biofuels market with acquisition of Chempolis, Fortum 3 BV
India’s Economic Survey presented earlier this year said that electric mobility is an important element in the country’s path to net zero. “Mitigating road transport emissions, which comprise nearly 75 per cent of the emissions from the transportation sector, is critical to India achieving its Net Zero goals by 2070," it noted.
“China’s vertical integration across the entire electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, from mining to EV manufacturing, has enabled it to retain its global dominance in this sector," the survey added.
Experts said all stakeholders should play their role.
“Highways should be constructed with EV charging stations every 25 km and the capex for that must be accommodated in the highway cost, which hardly makes any difference in the per-km cost of highways," said Reji Kumar Pillai, president of India Smart Grid Forum, an energy transition think tank.
“EV manufacturers’ consortiums could also promote setting up of chargers nationwide. In Japan, a portion of the cost of EV is allocated to the fund for setting up chargers," Pillai added.
