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					</table><p>In a sign that India’s financial institutions are getting serious about contributing to the country’s energy transition goals, public sector bank <a href="https://canarabank.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canara Bank</a> has issued a Green Deposit Policy and Lending Framework designed for green initiatives, including solar and wind energy projects.</p>
<p>The framework is on the lines of the Reserve Bank of India’s (<a href="https://rbi.org.in/home.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RBI</a>) guidance document for financial institutions to <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/reserve-bank-to-accept-green-deposits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offer</a> ‘green deposits’ to customers, address ‘greenwashing’ concerns, and help augment the flow of credit to green activities and projects. The framework, which applies to all regulated financial entities, was issued in April and came into force in June this year.</p>
<p>In its green deposit policy, Canara Bank will offer specialized green deposit accounts, which may be in the form of term or recurring deposits. Those opting to open such accounts will be awarded an appreciation letter.</p>
<p>Under the framework, such green deposits will be further deployed for “green finance” as per the green deposit lending framework guidelines.  The deposits will be deployed in green activities and projects aimed at encouraging energy efficiency in resource utilization and reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gases.</p>
<p>The bank’s policy framework also addresses issues of ‘greenwashing,’ a term to refer to organizations making unsubstantiated claims about their sustainable and environmentally-friendly products and services.</p>
<p>The framework lists solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower energy projects that integrate energy generation and storage as green projects. Other such initiatives include the design and construction of energy-efficient and energy-saving systems and installations in buildings and supporting the construction of new low-carbon buildings as well as energy-efficiency retrofits to existing buildings, projects to reduce electricity grid losses, and electric vehicles.</p>
<p>Projects involving new or existing extraction, production, and distribution of fossil fuels, including improvements and upgrades, or where the core energy source is fossil-fuel based, are not eligible for green financing. Hydropower plants larger than 25 MW and nuclear projects are also excluded.</p>
<p>The bank will furnish the details of the total clean energy capacity installed, energy generated, greenhouse gas emissions avoided annually, new clean infrastructure built, and number of electric vehicles produced.</p>
<p>The allocation of funds raised through green deposits by the bank will be subject to an independent annual third-party verification.</p>
<p>More such banks coming out with policies to accept green deposits could catalyze lending to India’s renewable energy sector, which <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/economic-survey-india-private-investment-finance-net-zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requires</a> an investment of trillions of U.S. dollars if India has to realize its net zero goals by 2070.</p>
<p>Recently, a parliamentary committee asked the government to <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/parliament-panel-renewable-finance-obligation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explore</a> the possibility of prescribing Renewable Finance Obligations along the lines of Renewable Purchase Obligations for banks and financial institutions to make them invest a specific percentage of their overall investment in the Indian renewable energy sector.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/nagaraj/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">B.S. Nagaraj</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Nagaraj_edtd-1.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">B.S. Nagaraj,</strong> Senior Editor at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/nagaraj/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from B.S. Nagaraj.</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Nagaraj_edtd-1.jpg" alt="Nagaraj Bharadwaj" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/nagaraj/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">B.S. Nagaraj</strong></a> is a Senior Editor at Mercom India. Nagaraj is an experienced journalist and has held senior roles in publications like The Indian Express and Deccan Herald, and Qatar Tribune. He has also worked for business advisory and risk management consulting firms in New Delhi.<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/nagaraj/">More articles from B.S. Nagaraj.</a></p>
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Canara Bank Issues Policy to Deploy Green Deposits in Renewable Energy Projects

<p>Various development banks made substantial concessional loans to assist the Indian government in its plans to expand solar rooftop installations in 2017. According to a new report by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) latest, concessional loans of around $1,375 million (~₹88 billion) were made available to domestic money lenders this year.</p>
<p>These lenders include the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the New Development Bank (NDB). The funds were made available to the State Bank of India (SBI), Canara Bank, and Punjab National Bank (PNB) for disbursement.</p>
<p>Rooftop installations have been a government priority ever since it announced a target to achieve 100 GW of solar by 2022. Currently most of the funding for rooftop is coming through World Bank and other Development Banks. For the sector to flourish private banks and financial institutions needs to get in the game.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/q3-2017-india-solar-quarterly-market-update/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">third quarter of 2017</a>, rooftop solar projects totaling 1.3 GW were commissioned, and within the last four months alone over 200 MW of rooftop solar was added to the grid. Installation numbers are <a href="https://mercomindia.com/power-tariffs-policy-rooftop-market/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gradually rising</a> even though rooftop solar has not yet made its way into the life of the average Indian residential electricity consumer. The increase in rooftop solar installations is instead being driven by the growing number of commercial, industrial, and government facilities that are using rooftop solar as a way to reduce their electricity bills. In the <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/q3-2017-india-solar-quarterly-market-update/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Q3 2017 India Solar Market Update</a>, Mercom recently forecast a cumulative rooftop solar capacity of 945 MW for 2017.</p>
<p>Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/mnre-financial-discoms-rooftop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently reported</a> that MNRE released a new proposal to overhaul the existing rooftop solar implementation mechanism by making it the responsibility of distribution companies (DISCOMs). Under the proposal, DISCOMs would be eligible to receive financial assistance to the tune of ₹234.5 billion (~$3.66 billion) based on their performance in facilitating rooftop solar deployment. The concept, once approved, would serve as the basis of MNRE’s revised Phase-II rooftop solar program.</p>
<p>In its year-end report of annual initiatives and achievements, the government seems confident about its potential to realize its 2022 solar energy target. According to the MNRE report, the government, in its submission to the United Nations Frame Work Convention on Climate Change on Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), stated that India would achieve 40 percent of cumulative electric power capacity generated by non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030, with the help of technology transfer and low-cost international finance.</p>
<p>Image credit: RattanIndia</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/ankita/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Ankita Rajeshwari</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/ankita-edited-1.png" alt="Ankita Rajeshwari" /> Ankita is an editor at MercomIndia.com where she writes and edits clean energy news stories and features. With years of experience in the news business, Ankita has a nose for news and an eye for detail. Prior to Mercom, Ankita was associated with The Times of India as a copy editor for the organization’s digital news desk. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Delhi University and a Postgraduate Diploma in journalism. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/ankita/">More articles from Ankita Rajeshwari.</a></p>
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Development Banks Loaned $1.4 Billion to Indian Solar Rooftops in 2017

<p><a href="https://www.canarabank.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Canara Bank</a>, a public-sector bank owned by the Government of India, has issued an empanelment tender inviting expressions of interest from rooftop solar project developers for the development of rooftop solar PV projects at Canara Bank branches and offices across India. The final date for bid submission is November 2, 2017, and the rooftop solar projects will be developed in either CAPEX or OPEX mode.</p>
<p>A Canara Bank document shows that bidders will be empaneled by region. Each bidder can either apply for empanelment in one region or in all regions (pan India). According to Canara Bank, the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and the union territory of Puducherry will all fall under South India region.</p>
<p>West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and the Northeastern states will all fall under the East India region, while Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Goa will all fall under the West India region. In addition, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh fall under Central India region and Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and the union territory of Chandigarh will all fall under the North India region.</p>
<p>A pre-submission meeting will be held on November 4, 2017, to answer any questions pertaining to the empanelment tender.</p>
<p>Vendors that satisfy the eligibility criteria will be shortlisted for empanelment which will be valid for one year or up until the time that Canara Bank issues another empanelment tender.</p>
<p>During the empanelment period, if the service provided by a vendor is found to be unsatisfactory or it is found to have provided false information, the bank can de-empanel that vendor without any prior notice.</p>
<p>Canara Bank has offices and branches across India, where rooftop solar is one of the most cost-effective ways of sourcing power. Public sector units will have to play a large part in creating rooftop solar demand to reach the government’s goal of achieving 40 GW in rooftop installations by 2022.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://mercomindia.com/research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercom India Research</a>, rooftop solar installations total approximately 1.3 GW as of Q3 2017.</p>
<p>Image credit: flickr</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Saumy Prateek</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/saumy-edited-1.png" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Saumy Prateek</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Saumy Prateek</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/saumy-edited-1.png" width="79" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" rel="noopener"><strong>Saumy Prateek, </strong> </a>is a senior staff reporter with MercomIndia.com covering business and energy news since 2016. Prior to Mercom, Saumy was a copy editor at Thomson Reuters. Saumy earned his Bachelors Degree in Journalism &amp; Mass Communication from the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University.<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/">More articles from Saumy Prateek.</a></div>
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Canara Bank Issues Empanelment Tender for Rooftop Solar Project Developers

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