bp ventures, the new technology arm of oil major bp, has led an investment round of India’s first and largest EV ride-hailing and charging start-up BluSmart, Kallanish reports.

The company invested $13 million in the $25m Series A round, which also saw support from companies such as Mayfield India Fund, 9Unicorns and Survam Partners. The investment is set to help BluSmart to expand its EV and charging stations presence to five major Indian cities in the next two years.

The Delhi-based start-up leases EVs to drivers and oversees vehicle maintenance for ride-hailing services, as well as provide charging infrastructure. The companies expect mobility as a service to make up 15% of the 1.1 trillion kilometres projected to be travelled by passenger vehicles in India by 2030, compared to 5% of the 477 billion km today.

“We believe that electric mobility has huge growth potential, driven in part by the increasingly favourable economics behind electric vehicles,” says Anmol Singh Jaggi, co-founder of BluSmart. “This latest funding infusion will help us grow as we work with bp to help transform India’s high-polluting cities and redefine ride-hailing with electric vehicles.”

bp says in a statement that 35 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities are in India, showing the “huge need” for low carbon technologies to help meet climate ambitions. This was bp venture’s first direct investment in the Indian market, out of nearly $800m invested to date in over 60 companies.