The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) plans to finance renewable energy projects in foreign currency for which an office would be established in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT city) in Gandhinagar.

Addressing a panel discussion on ‘Scaling up Clean Energy Investment in Emerging Economies’ under the aegis of G20 events at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), IREDA Chairman and Managing Director Pradip Kumar Das said the office in Gandhinagar would be classified as an overseas office.

The minister said that the office will help IREDA avoid foreign exchange hedging costs.

He also stressed the importance of the green taxonomy to raise approximately ₹250 million (~$3 million) funds for green projects by the end of the current decade.

On the agency’s growth in the past three years, Das said, “We have concentrated on providing a handholding approach to our stakeholders with every possible support in compliance with best corporate governance standards. As a result of IREDA’s proactive approach of proper review and monitoring, the company has been able to lower its net NPAs (non-performing assets) from 7.18% to 2.03% during the past three years.”

Das suggested that insurance and superannuation funds can be mandated to invest 2% of their assets under management in green bonds to finance renewable energy projects.

Earlier this month, the government sold ₹160 billion (~$1.9 billion) worth of sovereign green bonds in two equal tranches. The proceeds would be used to fund clean energy projects in the public sector.

He urged multi-and-bilateral international agencies like the World Bank, JICA, ADB, and KfW which have been financing clean energy projects in India through IREDA to review the appraisal process to accelerate funding for renewable energy projects.

In January, IREDA inked a memorandum of understanding with MNRE under which the former has been set a revenue target of ₹33.61 billion (~$414 million) for FY 2022-23, 18% higher than the previous year’s revenue from operations. IREDA will work towards achieving key performance parameters such as return on net worth, return on capital employed, NPAs, asset turnover ratio, and earnings per share.