The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a multilateral development bank, has announced that its board of directors has approved a $65 million (~₹912,896) loan for a 250 MW solar power project in Jodhpur.

The Beijing-based bank said that Hero Futures Energies (HFE), an independent power producer, will develop the project through its special purpose vehicle (SPV) Clean Solar Power (Jodhpur) Private Limited, which is expected to generate 616 MWh by 2022.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Hero Future Energies had won the 250 MW solar project by quoting a tariff of ₹2.53 (~$0.03)/kWh in July 2018 under SECI’s 2 GW ISTS Program. The company had signed a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with SECI in November 2018, and the project is expected to be commissioned by October 2020.

Previously, United Arab Emirates-based Masdar invested around $150 million (~₹10.7 billion) in Hero Future Energies. Hero Future expected that around 25% of its growth would come from Europe and the U.K., and Asia – including Bangladesh, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia, and this investment was to facilitate its expansion in these regions.

Clean Solar Power (CSP), a step-down subsidiary of HFE, also received a debt financing of up to $43.3 million from International Financial Corporation (IFC), the financial arm of the World Bank. The company proposed the development, construction, operation, and maintenance of a 250 MW greenfield solar project located in Rajasthan’s Bhadla. The estimated cost of the project was $200 million. In 2017, IFC had invested $125 million (~₹8.5 billion) in HFE. IFC, together with IFC Global Infrastructure Fund, a private equity fund managed by IFC Asset Management Company, invested in equity for HFE to set up 1 GW of solar and wind projects across India.

According to Mercom India Research, Hero Future Energies has about 600 MW of large-scale solar projects in operation, and around 840 MW of projects are under development.

AIIB also approved a $145 million (~$2.03 million) loan for the country to help improve irrigation services and flood risk management systems in West Bengal. The funds would be used to modernize irrigation infrastructure at main, branch, distributary and minor canal levels and invest in structural measures to reduce flooding in the project area, according to AIIB.

Earlier, Mercom reported that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced it would provide a $100 million loan to L&T Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (LTIF). The loan proceeds would be used to finance mid and large-scale wind and solar projects throughout India.