In a bid to boost volumes for the struggling electric vehicles segment, State Bank of India on Monday launched a discounted loan for buyers of such vehicles pricing 20 basis points lower than its existing auto loans.

One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.

Of the 3.6 million (FY19) car industry, EVs constitute around 1,000 units per annum, according to industry data, and together with two-wheelers the industry notches up over 54,000 units annually despite the many policy pushes to promote this segment of transport. But the two-wheeler segment in a 20 million business annually now.

The Green Car Loan scheme provided by SBI comes with the repayment period of up to eight years, which is a strategic inclusion to the bank’s auto loan segment offered with zero processing fee for the first six months of the launch.

PK Gupta, managing director (R&DB) SBI said, “We are pleased to introduce the concept of ‘Green Car Loan’. These days, cars are perceived to play a vital role in polluting environment. We believe SBI Green Car Loan (Electric Vehicle) scheme would act as a change agent in auto loan segment and encourage customers to switch to electric vehicles which can improve overall air quality and lower carbon emissions."

SBI has already announced 100 percent migration towards electric vehicles by 2030 to reduce carbon footprints, the release stated adding that the bank along with Wipro joined the Climate Group's EV100 initiative for accelerating the roll-out of electric vehicles worldwide.

First Published:Apr 22, 2019 8:45 PM IST