M&M ties up with DBS Bank India for sustainability-linked dealer financing programme

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DBS Bank India to introduce a sustainability-linked dealer financing programme aimed at encouraging authorised dealerships to adopt greener business practices.

Under the programme, M&M dealers will be eligible for favourable interest rates on loans for purchasing passenger and commercial vehicles, depending on their performance against defined sustainability parameters. The company said the initiative is the first such structured framework in India’s automotive sector.

The programme outlines environmental performance criteria aligned with M&M’s Green Dealership Programme, including tracking of greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption, adoption of renewable energy, rainwater harvesting, waste management practices, availability of public EV charging infrastructure, and even the number of eSUVs sold by the dealership.

Nalinikanth Gollagunta, Chief Executive Officer – Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said the initiative comes at a crucial time for India’s sustainability transition.

“The launch of this financing program will enable us to step up the breadth of our decarbonisation efforts, bring our dealerships into the fold and drive a reduction in Scope 3 emissions,” Gollagunta said.

Divyesh Dalal, Managing Director and Country Head – Global Transaction Services, Corporate Banking – Financial Institutions and SMEs, DBS Bank India, said the partnership is aimed at helping M&M scale decarbonisation across its dealer network.

“Our new financing program goes beyond the balance sheet, providing the practical tools needed to decarbonise their dealer network at scale,” Dalal said.

Terence Yew Tiek Yong, Managing Director and Group Head of Corporate Sales & Solutioning, Global Transaction Services, DBS Bank, said DBS will support M&M by incentivising dealers to promote EV adoption and strengthen ESG standards across operations.

M&M dealerships typically purchase vehicles from the company before retailing them to customers. Under the new financing structure, dealers will be ranked based on their ESG performance and sales targets, with commercial benefits linked to improvements in these metrics. The ESG parameters have been jointly designed by M&M and DBS Bank India.