YES Bank, one of the largest private sector banks in India, has collaborated with the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s non-profit long-term lending institution, to formulate a renewable energy financing program for India.

This new initiative is the first cooperation between EIB and YES Bank, and represents the first support for renewable energy in Asia from a commercial bank. The new financing program will streamline financing for a range of renewable energy projects being built and operated by leading Indian corporations and private sector developers. Eligible solar projects have already been identified in the states of Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka and additional wind and solar projects are currently being examined.

EIB will provide $200 million (~₹12.79 billion) for the joint initiative. YES Bank, project promoters, and other financial institutions will also provide financing for the program. The EIB is providing $200 million (~₹12.79 billion) as a 15-year loan.

YES Bank will manage the new co-financing program for the construction of new solar power projects and wind farms across India. This is also the longest tenor borrowing facility for YES Bank in the international loan market.

“India and the European Union are committed to the Paris Agreement and tackling climate change. This new $400 million (~₹25.58 billion) initiative demonstrates the shared vision and commitment of both the EIB and YES Bank to increase renewable energy power generation across India. This new financing program will make a significant contribution to harnessing wind power and solar energy to produce green energy, create thousands of jobs during construction, and strengthen technical and financial skills for the renewable energy sector to expand,” said Andrew McDowell, vice president at EIB.

“The new cooperation between YES Bank and the EIB demonstrates another milestone in our leadership as India’s pre-eminent ‘Green Bank.’ The highly successful transaction highlights continued trust and enthusiasm of global multilaterals and finance Institutions in collaborating with YES Bank. With this transaction, we remain well on track to achieve our commitment to finance 5,000 MW of RE made at the first RE-INVEST Summit in Feb 2015 and it is also synchronous with our COP 21 commitment of mobilizing $5 billion (~₹15.11 billion) for climate finance by 2020,” said Rana Kapoor, managing director and chief executive officer of YES Bank.

Mercom previously reported that the EIB had said it would provide €800 million (~₹61.3 billion) in funding for renewable energy investments across India. This included renewable energy financing in partnership with the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and the India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) approved earlier this year.

Image credit: By Palauenc05 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons