The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100 million (~₹6.46 billion) loan to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) that will finance large solar rooftop systems on industrial and commercial buildings in several states. The loan is guaranteed by the Government of India and PNB will use the funds to lend to various developers and end users to install rooftop solar systems.

According to ADB release, this loan is the first tranche of a $500 million (~₹32.31 billion) multi-tranche finance facility Solar Rooftop Investment Program (SRIP) approved by ADB in 2016. Financing of $330 million (~₹21.32 billion) has been provided from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and $170 million (~₹11 billion) is from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF). The first tranche loan of $100 million (~₹6.46 billion) would be financed entirely from the CTF.

A total funding of $1 billion (~₹64.62 billion) will be required for implementing the SRIP, which aims to finance projects with an overall capacity of 1 GW. Mercom had previously reported that ADB had raised $47 million in Indian Rupee-linked bonds to develop renewable energy projects in India.