ADB supports Indian renewables with USD-200m loan

The Indian government has signed a USD-200-million (EUR 181.3m) credit facility with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in support of multiple renewable energy projects in the country, the lender said Wednesday.

The loan will be provided to state-owned non-bank financial institution, the Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), which will then lend portions of it to eligible wind, photovoltaic (PV), biomass, hydropower and cogeneration schemes. IREDA falls under the administration of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The credit line represents the first portion of a USD-500-million multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) to IREDA for its Clean Energy Finance Investment Programme, which focuses on utilising public sector resources to spur private investments in renewable energy sub-projects, ADB explained. The scheme is also expected to attract some USD 300 million in equity and other investments from sponsors along with at least USD 200 million of additional debt funds from unrestricted sources. All in all, the USD-1-billion programme can support roughly 990 MW of green capacity.

The current funds can meet as much as 50% of the debt finance cost of 10 or more projects, depending on their capacity, ADB India country director Teresa Kho noted. “ADB’s loan will help the government scale-up renewable energy infrastructure by facilitating investments in projects that will balance the objectives of growth, climate change, and energy security,” she added.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.906)

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