Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), a finance and policy advisory group, has invited applications for the next round of India Clean Energy Finance (ICEF) from enterprises and projects in distributed renewable energy (DRE) for its subsequent round of catalytic support to accelerate commercialization and mobilize commercial capital.

The program invites applications from enterprises offering rooftop solar solutions, e-mobility/ solar-powered electric vehicle charging, and renewable energy-powered cooling solutions.

It is also inviting applications from agrivoltaics, productive mini-grids, alternative sustainable fuels, distributed green hydrogen (associated renewable energy facility), energy solutions, and energy-as-a-service.

CPI will provide technical assistance of up to $150,000 (~₹13.07 million) to enable financial advisory services under the fund mobilization program.

Applicants can send their submissions by August 18, 2025. The selected applications will be announced on August 28, 2025.

The first phase of ICEF mobilized more than 50 times the capital for each dollar spent towards providing technical assistance to enterprises under the program.

The program supports nascent-stage DRE technologies to unlock commercial capital for DRE-based enterprises and projects, and DRE-focused financial intermediaries.

To be eligible for technical assistance, the applicant must be an entity limited by shares, such as a private or public limited company.

The applicant or a project special purpose vehicle (SPV) must be a legally registered entity with an operational presence in India.

The applicant or an SPV, its sponsor, must have at least $300,000 (~₹26.15 million)  annual revenue in the previous year.

The technology behind the applicant’s business model must have clear market potential and commercial viability. It must also have a functional prototype tested in a relevant practical environment.

The applicant must also have a clear commercialization pathway with a visible market demand.

The applicant or a project SPV, its sponsor, must have a competent leadership team with relevant technical, business, and sectoral expertise. It must also have a significant track record of execution of projects in its respective domains.

Applicants who are not financial intermediaries must have a fundraising plan of at least $1 million (~₹87.18 million) within a year.

An applicant who is a DRE-focused financial intermediary must have a fundraising plan of at least $2 million (~₹174.36 million) within a year.

The applicant must be willing to comply with facility monitoring, evaluation, and reporting requirements as specified by .

With the installed capacities in distributed renewable energy growing, several Indian states have been proposing a separate category for DRE in their Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO).

Bihar has proposed a target of fulfilling 4.5% of RPO requirements through DRE by FY 2030.

Chhattisgarh has also introduced a new distributed RPO category to be fulfilled through renewable energy projects of less than 10 MW capacity. This provision covers installations under net metering, group net metering, virtual net metering, and behind-the-meter configurations.