Banks, FIs sanction Rs 1.08 lakh cr for renewables: Goyal

Banks and financial institutions have sanctioned funding of Rs 1.08 lakh crore for renewable energy capacities of 42.71 GW since February 2015, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

Banks and financial institutions have committed total funding of Rs 3.82 lakh crore for 76.35 GW of renewable energy capacities in the country.

"23 public sector & 7 private sector banks and 4 public sector & 2 private sector non-banking financing companies have committed for financing renewable energy projects of 76,352 MW capacity with an outlay of Rs 3,82,255 crore through Green Commitment Certificates during REINVEST 2015 held in February, 2015," New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.

He further stated, "These Banks and Financial Institutions (FIs) have supported projects of 42717 MW capacity with sanctioned and released amount of Rs 108,682.20 crores and Rs 50,157.94 crores respectively, as on September 30, 2016 after giving the commitments which is about 27.57 percent of the commitment made." The minister told the House that the ministry has estimated an investment opportunity of about Rs 9 lakh crore both in manufacturing, project development and requisite transmission infrastructure during the next five years for achieving the enhanced capacity addition target of 175 GW in the renewable energy sector.

He also said that to achieve grid parity, long term finance at lower rates is required.

Efforts are being made to mobilise additional funds for the renewable energy sector through National Investment Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) created by Government of India and also from multilateral & bilateral banks such as - The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, National Development Bank and KfW, he added.

In another reply he told the House, "Government of India has set up NIIF in August 2015, which is an umbrella fund for development of infrastructure in the country. A dedicated sub-fund of USD two billion under this fund will be for clean energy. The funds will be used for deployment in equity and equity related products for renewable energy projects." He further said that through NIIF, there is a plan to attract pension and insurance funds from foreign countries.

The fund will be operationalised after completion of required approvals and clearances, he added.