The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $175 million (~Rs.11.35 billion) loan to the Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL) to expand its solar power transmission network across the country.

The new funding will help improve the capacity and efficiency of the interstate transmission networks, especially in transmitting electricity generated from solar parks to the national grid, according to ADB.

As a part of the loan, ADB will provide a $50 million (~Rs.3.24 billion) in a co-financing loan from the Clean Technology Fund, a component of the $5.8 billion (~Rs.376.1 trillion) climate investment fund, aimed at providing developing countries resources to expand efforts in utilizing low-carbon technologies and transitioning to clean, renewable energy sources.

Apart from evacuating 2,500 MW of power from the solar park in Bhadla, Rajasthan and 700 MW from Banaskantha, Gujarat, the PGCIL is also including two additional subprojects that will increase solar power generation by 4.2 GW.

Mercom previously reported, that the ADB is providing a $500 million (~Rs.33.4 billion) loan to PGCIL for the development of the Green Energy Corridor.

Image credit: By AndreaADB (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons