World Bank approves financing for India’s solar rooftop programme

The World Bank has approved financing for India's national solar rooftop programme, supporting the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. The initiative aims to expand residential solar adoption, create 1.7 million jobs and mobilise billions of dollars in private investment

New Delhi: The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved financing to accelerate India’s national solar rooftop programme, aiming to bring clean energy to millions of homes and create 1.7 million jobs across the renewable energy manufacturing, installation and services value chain.

India has committed to achieving ‘net zero’ by 2070 and increasing non-fossil-fuel-based energy sources to 60 per cent of its electricity mix by 2035. While large-scale solar power has grown rapidly, the adoption of residential solar has remained limited.

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To unlock this potential, the Government of India launched the ‘PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana’ to incentivise solar rooftop installations for 10 million rural and urban households across the country, reduce household electricity costs and encourage local manufacturing of solar rooftop equipment.

“The World Bank has been supporting India’s solar rooftop sector for over a decade, mobilising more than USD 2 billion to catalyse market growth from 500 MW to over 27 GW of installed capacity,” said Paul Proccee, World Bank Acting Country Director for India, on Friday.

“This new financing will help India scale up residential solar while creating job opportunities across the supply chain and installation ecosystem.”

The financing package includes an USD 820 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a USD 60 million concessional loan from the Clean Technology Fund and a USD 10 million grant from the IBRD’s Livable Planet Fund.

In addition, the World Bank will mobilise USD 4.2 billion in private financing in the form of commercial loans, enabling households to install solar rooftops.

“The programme will transform the residential solar market by removing financial barriers and building the capacity of distribution companies, banks and vendors to deliver integrated service solutions,” said Moez Cherif, Task Team Leader of the programme.

“Through collateral-free financing, households can install solar power and significantly reduce their monthly electricity bills.”