The State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a $165 million line of credit from the World Bank to finance grid-connected rooftop solar projects in the residential and institutional sectors.

SBI also signed a €200 million (~$220 million) line of credit from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support India’s climate action projects, it said in a regulatory filing. The loan document will become operational once the necessary approvals are secured.

The public sector bank completed the issuance of $250 million Senior Unsecured Green Floating Rate Notes with a five-year maturity, a coupon of O/N Compound Secured Overnight Financing Rate, and 120 bps p.a. payable semi-annually. The senior unsecured green bond will be issued through SBI’s London branch on December 29, 2023.

Just last week, the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) granted a Є70 million (~$76 million) loan to SBI to help refinance solar projects with a total capacity of 180 MW as part of phase III.

In 2022, SBI received a low-interest loan of €150 million (~$150.66 million) from Germany-based bank KfW to finance solar projects in India. The loan aimed to fund innovative technologies such as automated dry cleaning of solar modules to reduce water consumption.

Further, in 2021, SBI had approved ₹319.18 billion (~$4.26 billion) in renewable energy project finance to fund over 752 renewable energy projects with a total installed capacity of 13.8 GW. The same year, SBI, along with the EIB, launched a €100 million (~$121.63 million) initiative to boost sustainability financing.

As of March 2021, SBI had approved over ₹319.18 billion (~$4.26 billion) in renewable energy project finance in India.

In August this year, SBI invited bids to select consultants to measure the carbon footprint in the bank’s lending portfolio and provide comprehensive solutions in the areas of climate risk and sustainable finance.

Lenders are more receptive to funding renewable transactions, encouraging corporates striving towards a carbon-neutral environment and adding value to their brands, Hitesh Paliwal, Senior VP & Zonal Head, North Zone Corporate Banking Group at SBI told Mercom in an interview in May this year.