Financing the Zero-Emission Truck Transition: 5 Lessons to Accelerate ZET Adoption through Accessible Finance

This white paper summarizes the discussion from the session “Powering the Shift: Unlocking Financial Pathways for ZET Adoption,” convened by Smart Freight Centre India at Smart Freight Week, held in Amsterdam in April 2026. The most productive conversation was not about trucks. It was about who pays for them. The session, brought together fleet operators, lenders, battery data specialists, and policy researchers. Based on SFC India’s internal estimates using PSA adoption figures, India’s ZET financing requirement could exceed USD 600 million by 2030. The diagnosis was clear: the trucks are increasingly ready; the commercial frameworks that would fund them at scale are not. The gap is most visible in public-sector banks. Government banks sit among the lowest-cost sources of capital in the Indian credit market but are largely absent from EV truck financing. Fleets rely on non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) at higher rates and less favorable terms. The white paper includes five lessons from the discussion.