Government wants banks to up renewable energy financing, minister to meet bankers in January – EQ
In Short : The government is urging banks to increase financing for renewable energy projects. A minister will meet with bankers in January to discuss strategies for boosting investment in green energy, aiming to accelerate the transition to sustainable power sources and meet the country’s renewable energy goals.
In Detail : The government wants banks to step up financing for the renewable energy sector and the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) is likely to convene a meeting in January to discuss the matter, minister Pralhad Joshi said on December 17.
The focus on financing comes as India has set an ambitious target of 500 GW of non-fossil power generation capacity by 2030. An investment of around Rs 42 trillion is required to meet the goal.
“In the coming days, I think somewhere in the month of January, I would meet the chairmen and MDs of all banks in Mumbai,” the minister for new and renewable energy said at the 5th International Energy Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).
“We will talk on providing more financing for renewable energy sector,” the minister told media later.
The minister said he is confident that India will continue to attract investments. “We are confident of making India one of the top global markets for renewable energy investments. In fact, in just last month alone, 2.3 GW of new capacity was added, which means a 4-fold increase from the 566.06 MW added in November 2023. So yes, this transformation is not just a dream, it is happening today,” Joshi said.
In the past three financial years, $6.1 billion in FDI flew into the sector, Joshi said, adding the government is taking steps to make the renewable energy space more attractive to investors.
Recently, MNRE secretary Prashant Kumar Singh said there was a need to have green energy financing obligation for banks.
A CII and Ernst & Young report, released at the conference, also stressed on the need for improved financing and investments in the renewable energy space.
India’s renewable energy sector has grown rapidly in but renewable rich states, particularly those with huge wind and solar power capacity, need to enhance intra-state transmission networks to facilitate energy export to other regions. “Key challenges include the need for significant and timely financial investments to upgrade existing infrastructure and build new transmission lines,” it said.
Between April and November of the current financial year, India added nearly 15 GW of renewable energy capacity, almost double the 7.54 GW in the year-ago period, the minister said.
The country’s installed capacity in the non-fossil fuel sector has reached 214 GW, a 14 percent increase from the previous year, he said.
