India receives 1.5 bn dollars for green energy transition from World Bank

NEW DELHI: The World Bank has approved 1.5 billion dollars in financing to accelerate India’s development of low-carbon energy.

The World Bank released a statement and said that the financing will help the country promote low-carbon energy by scaling up renewable energy, developing green hydrogen, and stimulating climate finance for low-carbon energy investments.

“India is one of the fastest-growing large economies in the world. While the country’s energy consumption per capita is only one-third of the global average, India’s energy demand is expected to grow rapidly as the economy expands. This calls for a phasing down of fossil-based energy sources in line with India’s goal of achieving net zero by 2070,” the World Bank statement read.

It further added, “India has achieved impressive progress in renewable energy, installed capacity and a decline in costs. Scaling up the production of renewable energy will accelerate the transition to low-carbon electricity and support the emergence and expansion of the green hydrogen sector.”

The operation will help stimulate private financing and other support by addressing viability funding gaps, reducing off-taker risks, boosting grid integration of renewables, and stimulating demand for renewable energy.

“The programme will support the successful implementation of the National Green Hydrogen Mission that aims to stimulate 100 billion dollars in private sector investment by 2030,” said Auguste Tano Kouame, Country Director, World Bank.

With the World Bank on board to support the National Green Hydrogen Mission, it also aims to help India by reaching 500 GigaWatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030. The government plans to issue bids for 50 GW of renewable energy each year from the financial year 2023-24 to 2027-28, which will avoid carbon emissions of 40 million tons per annum by 2026.

“A national carbon market is essential to provide a level playing field between low-carbon energy and fossil fuels. This programme will support policies for a national carbon credit trading scheme to launch a national carbon market,” the statement read.

India issued its first sovereign green bond in January 2023. The programme will support policy actions for the issuance of six billion dollars in sovereign green bonds by 2026.