New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved financing to accelerate India’s national program for solar rooftops to bring clean energy to millions of homes and create 1.7 million job opportunities across the renewable energy manufacturing, installation, and services value chain.

India has committed to achieving ‘net zero’ by 2070 and increasing non-fossil-fuel-based energy resources to 60 per cent of its electricity mix by 2035.

While large-scale solar has grown rapidly, residential solar adoption has been limited. To unlock this potential, the government of India established the ‘PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana’ program to incentivise solar rooftop installation for 10 million rural and urban households nationwide, reduce household electricity costs, and encourage local manufacturing of solar rooftop equipment.

“The World Bank has been supporting India’s solar rooftop sector for over a decade, mobilising more than $2 billion to catalyse market growth from 500 MW to over 27 GW of installed capacity,” said Paul Proccee, World Bank Acting Country Director for India, on Friday.

“This new financing will help India scale up residential solar, while creating job opportunities across the supply chain and installation ecosystem.”

The financing package for the program includes an $820 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a $60 million concessional loan from the Clean Technology Fund, and a $10 million grant from IBRD’s Livable Planet Fund.

In addition, the World Bank will mobilise $4.2 billion in private financing in the form of commercial loans enabling them to install solar rooftops for households.

“The program will transform the residential solar market by removing financial barriers and building the capacity of distribution companies, banks, and vendors to deliver integrated service solutions,” said Moez Cherif, Task Team Leader of the program.

“Through collateral-free financing, households can install solar power and significantly reduce their monthly electricity bills.”

–IANS

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