On World Environment Day, the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), a state-run power sector financer, announced a $1 million (~₹67 million) contribution to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), according to PTI.

The ISA is an Indian initiative jointly launched by Narendra Modi and the French president in November 2015 in Paris on the sidelines of COP-21, the UN Climate Conference. The ISA seeks to address the obstacles of deploying solar energy at scale through the improved harmonization and aggregation of demand from solar-rich countries located fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

“The REC is extremely proud to partner with ISA and promote sustainability through global collaboration, especially with India hosting the World Environment Day this year”, PV Ramesh, chairman and managing director of REC told PTI. This contribution of $1 million to ISA would make REC a corpus contributor.

Mercom previously reported that REC is planning to increase its loan disbursements to the renewable energy sector to 4-5 percent by 2022. In the last financial year, the renewable energy segment received ₹34.18 billion (~$0.51 billion) from the REC, which amounts to only one percent of its total outstanding loan amount of ₹2,390 billion (~$ 35.41 billion) available for the sector.

In August 2017, the REC provided a ₹130 billion (~$2 billion) loan to Maharashtra State Power Generation Co. (MAHAGENCO) for generation projects, flue gas desulfurization systems, working capital, and special loan requirements.

In the past year, the REC raised $450 million through the sale of green bonds on the London Stock Exchange. The funds will go toward the development of solar, wind, sustainable water, waste management, and biomass projects.

At the inaugural conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) held in New Delhi, the Government of India pledged $1.4 billion to fund the development of solar projects in 15 African and South Asian countries that are part of the ISA consortium.

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer