Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced its decision to invest in the self-drive car-rental service provider, Zoomcar. The automaker sees potential for growth in the shared mobility business. Under the deal, the Mahindra Group would invest up to Rs 176 crore, which would constitute a stake of approximately 16 percent in Zoomcar.

M&M says it has been keen to invest in the shared mobility space as a part of its strategy to promote electric vehicles. Speaking on the development, Pawan Goenka, managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “At Mahindra, we are playing a pioneering role in the shared mobility business and are looking forward to an impetus in it through this investment in Zoomcar.”

Zoomcar plans to leverage M&M's experience in mobility and accelerate the transformation to a shared, electric mobility future for India. “We are happy to have Mahindra on board as we step into the next phase of growth," said Greg Moran, co-founder and CEO, Zoomcar, in a company statement.

Last year, Mahindra and Zoomcar announced a partnership to introduce electric vehicles into the shared mobility space. Zoomcar recently launched Mahindra e20Plus EVs across Mysore, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Going forward, it expects to add another over 500 Mahindra EVs across more than 20 cities pan-India, in the first half of 2018.

Earlier in November, 2017 – in a similar move towards furthering its interest in shared mobility – Mahindra had announced its collaboration with Uber to supply electric vehicles on Uber's platform.