1. Union Government inks Loan Agreement with World Bank for Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project.
The agreement was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of Government of India, and Hisham A. Abdo, Acting Country Director, World Bank India, on behalf of the World Bank.
A loan agreement was also signed by K S Popli, Chairman and Managing Director, India Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) and Hisham A. Abdo, Acting Country Director, World Bank India, on behalf of the World Bank, an official release from the Ministry of Finance noted.
The project consists of two components- Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks (estimated total project cost of USD 100 million, including USD 75 million in IBRD loan and USD 23 million in CTF Loan) and technical assistance (USD 2 million in CTF Grant).
The objective of the project is to increase solar generation capacity through establishment of large-scale parks in the country. The project will help establish large-scale solar parks and support the government`s plan to install 100 Gigawatts (GW) of solar power out of a total renewable-energy target of 175 GW by 2022.
2. India and World Bank ink $98 million loan pact for renewable energy.
India and the World Bank on Monday signed a $98 million loan pact, and a $2 million grant agreement to help the country increase power generation capacity through cleaner, renewable energy sources.
The Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project will finance Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA), to provide sub-loans to states to invest in various solar parks, the World Bank said in a statement. The solar parks will be mostly under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) Solar Park Scheme, it said.
The first two solar parks are in the Rewa and Mandsaur districts of Madhya Pradesh, with targeted installed capacities of 750 MW and 250 MW respectively, it said. Other states where potential solar parks could be supported under this project are in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana.
The government is committed to setting up an enabling environment for solar technology penetration in the country, said Sameer Kumar Khare—Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs. “This Project will help establish large-scale solar parks and support the government’s plan to install 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power out of a total renewable-energy target of 175 GW by 2022,” he said in the statement.
The IREDA will utilise the funding under this project to develop the common infrastructure such as power pooling substations, intra-park transmission infrastructure and provide access to roads, water supply and drainage. While some states intend to provide a full range of infrastructure services to the selected private or public sector developers, others plan to provide only pooling stations to facilitate internal evacuation.
3. BRICS Bank approves $400 million loans for India and Russia.
The Shanghai-based Brics New Development Bank (NDB) has approved two infrastructure and sustainable development projects in India and Russia with loans of $400 million.
The loans will be used to rehabilitate the Indira Gandhi canal system in India and to build a toll transport corridor connecting Ufa city centre to the M-5 federal highway in Russia.
“The NDB was established to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development in Brics and other emerging economies and developing countries, and the two projects approved today are fully in line with the bank’s mandate and national development plans of our member countries,” NDB president K.V. Kamath was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
The NDB was set up with an initial authorized capital of $100 billion after leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (Brics) agreed on its establishment during the 6th Brics Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, in 2014.
The bank officially opened in 2015. NDB had approved seven projects in 2016 with a total worth of $1.5 billion. The bank said sustainable infrastructure development will be the primary emphasis of its operations in the next five years. PTI