World Bank Offers $100 Million Credit Guarantee For Rooftop Solar Power In India

The World Bank has offered a new assistance package for the development of rooftop solar power projects in India.

According to media reports, the World Bank will offer $648 million in funding assistance for the installation of rooftop solar power projects in the small and medium scale company segment. This package includes a credit guarantee scheme worth $100 million. The assistance will be delivered through the State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank.

The programme will target small and medium-sized companies that usually do not meet lending criteria for funding institutions. This is the second collaboration between the World Bank and the State Bank of India. The World Bank launched a $648 million loan assistance programme for the rooftop solar market in 2016.

India’s minister for micro, small, and medium enterprises urged companies to utilise this loan assistance programme and adopt rooftop solar power. He claimed that around 16 gigawatts of rooftop solar power capacity can be installed in small and medium-sized companies.

The announcement by World Bank comes just days after the Indian prime minister announced that the country will meet its target to achieve 40 gigawatts of rooftop solar power capacity by 2022. Earlier this year a parliamentary panel had noted that the 40-gigawatt rooftop solar power target by 2022 was unrealistic.