India, KfW to work on $8bn renewable grid upgrade

India will start construction on an US$8 billion project this year to upgrade its energy grid as it targets a doubling of its renewable power capacity by 2022.

Power Grid Corp of India Ltd., the state-run utility company that manages around half of the countries electricity supply, has invited bids for work beginning in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu states.

The project is supported by the German development bank KfW and deputy director, Andreas Thermann, said they will lend an initial €250 million (US$334 million).

KfW could raise its lending to as much as €1 billion, according to Thermann.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has pledged to deliver electricity access to all homes in India and plans to expand and strengthen the outdated grid that suffered the world’s biggest blackout in 2012.

The new Green Energy Corridor project plans to strengthen transmission infrastructure in eight states to absorb more clean power, according to Power Grid.

India currently has about 32 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity which is expected to climb to 72 gigawatts by 2022, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.