India launches major rooftop solar power scheme
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency has launched a new loan scheme to support rooftop solar power projects across India
The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has launched a new loan scheme to support rooftop solar power projects across India and help achive ambitious clean energy targets.
The scheme will provide loans at an interest rate of 9.9 to 10.75 per cent to system aggregators and developers, depending on the credit rating of the borrower.
The minimum capacity for the application would be 1 MWp for both categories of aggregators and individual developers, with individual projects of capacity not less than 20 KWp.
With the average solar rooftop project for individual households less than 5 KWp, the new scheme is designed for commercial scale developers instead of the general public.
IREDA has set a target of adding 100-GW of solar power by 2022 with 40 per cent of the total coming from rooftop solar.
Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy, said: “The government of India is soliciting ideas and constructive criticism on all renewable power projects and no amount of negative response can deter the ministry from its dream of achieving this target.”
New and Renewable Energy Secretary Upendra Tripathi said that the government is looking for $2 billion from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, which would be channelled into banks to help finance projects on low interest rates.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private financing unit of the World Bank also signed a partnership agreement with IREDA to provide infrastructure financing for energy projects in India.
K S Popli, IREDA chairman and managing director, said: “The partnership will help IREDA increase its portfolio to support the government’s plans to establish up to 175 GW of renewable energy projects over the next seven years.”
