Renewable energy investment across India gets USD 400 million boost from new European Investment Bank – YES BANK initiative

Expansion of renewable energy power generation across India will be supported by a new  USD 400 million joint initiative backed by the European Investment Bank and YES BANK, India’s 5th largest private sector bank. YES BANK will manage the new co-financing programme for construction of new solar power plants and wind farms across the country.

The new USD 400 million private sector renewable energy financing programme was announced in New Delhi today by Donal Cannon, Head of the European Investment Bank Representation to South Asia and Arun Agrawal, Group President, International Banking, YES BANK. It will be supported by USD 200 million from the European Investment Bank, alongside financing from YES BANK, project promoters and other financial institutions.

The 15 year USD 200 million EIB loan was approved by the EIB Board of Directors on 12th December and financial details of the new initiative are expected to be finalised in the coming weeks.

The new financing programme will streamline financing for a range of renewable energy projects being built and operated by leading Indian corporations and private sector developers. Eligible solar projects have already been identified in the states of Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka and additional wind and solar projects are currently being examined.

“India and the European Union are committed to the Paris Agreement and tackling climate change. This new USD 400 million initiative demonstrates the shared vision and commitment of both the European Investment Bank and Yes Bank to increasing renewable energy power generation across India. This new financing programme will make a significant contribution to harnessing wind power and solar energy to produce green energy, create thousands of jobs during construction and strengthen technical and financial skills for the renewable energy sector to expand.” said Andrew McDowell, European Investment Bank Vice President.

“The new cooperation between YES BANK and the European Investment Bank, demonstrates another milestone in our leadership as India’s pre-eminent ‘Green Bank’. The highly successful transaction showcases continued trust and enthusiasm of Global multilaterals and Finance Institutions in partnering with YES BANK. With this transaction we remain well on track to achieve our commitment to finance 5,000 MW of RE made at the 1st RE-INVEST Summit in Feb 2015 and is also synchronous with our COP 21 commitment of mobilizing USD 5 Bn for Climate Finance by 2020.” said Mr. Rana Kapoor, Managing Director & CEO, YES BANK.

This new initiative is the first EIB cooperation with YES BANK, and represents the first support for renewable energy in Asia with a commercial bank. This is also the longest tenor borrowing facility for YES BANK in the international loan market. The European Investment Bank is the world’s largest international public bank, owned directly by the 28 European Union member states and the largest lender for renewable energy investment worldwide.

Last year the European Investment Bank provided EUR 19.6 billion for climate related investment worldwide.

In recent months the EIB has made new investment in sustainable transport in India, backing expansion of the Bangalore and Lucknow Metro systems..

Background information:

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

YES BANK, India’s fifth largest private sector Bank with a pan India presence across all 29 states and 7 Union Territories of India, headquartered in the Lower Parel Innovation District (LPID) of Mumbai, is the outcome of the professional & entrepreneurial commitment of its Founder Rana Kapoor and its Top Management team, to establish a high quality, customer centric, service driven, private Indian Bank catering to the future businesses of India.

YES BANK has adopted international best practices, the highest standards of service quality and operational excellence, and offers comprehensive banking and financial solutions to all its valued customers.

YES BANK has a knowledge driven approach to banking, and offers a superior customer experience for its retail, corporate and emerging corporate banking clients. YES BANK is steadily evolving as the Professionals’ Bank of India with the long term mission of “BUILDING INDIA’s FINEST QUALITY LARGE BANK”.

With Responsible Banking as one of the key pillars of YES BANK the Bank is a barometer of India’s growth story. YES BANK on the occasion of COP21, had also committed to target mobilizing USD 5 billion from 2015 to 2020 for climate action through lending, investing and raising capital towards mitigation, adaptation and resilience. This commitment was strengthened by indicating an action plan: target funding of 5,000 MW of clean energy gradually increasing the percentage of renewable energy in the power portfolio; contributing towards the carbon sink by planting 2 million trees; touching 100 million lives through its safe and clean drinking water program; and by offsetting carbon emissions of the bank’s operations.

Furthering the Bank’s mission YES BANK had issued India’s first Green Infrastructure Bonds in 2015 for 1000 Crore INR with an overwhelming 2.13x oversubscription. YES BANK subsequently raised INR 315 Crore (USD 50 Mn) from IFC, Washington in August 2015 and INR 330 Crore (USD 50 Mn) from FMO, Netherlands in September 2016 through green bond issuances. YES BANK was also awarded the ‘most innovative bond structure’ by Environmental Finance in May 2016, and YES BANK was recognized the ‘Green Bond – Pioneer in India’ by the Climate Bonds Initiative in February 2016.

As a financial institution built on the fulcrum of Responsible Banking, YES BANK remains fully committed to helping the Government in establishing a platform for industry and other stakeholders for achieving the nation’s targets. Notably, YES BANK has also recently been upgraded by MSCI ESG Research to AAA Rating from AA rating. The MSCI ESG Report has highlighted YES BANK’s key strengths in Financial Product Safety, Corporate Governance, and Financial System Instability, and has also highlighted that there are no significant risks for the Bank from an ESG perspective.

Source: eib.org