Germany to provide $1.3 bn for renewable energy in India

The assistance is intended to finance joint development of technical solutions to overcome problems like integration of power grids

Germany will support building up of renewable energy in India by providing soft loans of up to 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for a six-year period starting next year.

Germany's offer as part of its development cooperation with India was made in a "joint declaration of intent" signed by Union Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah and parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Gudrun Kopp during the second inter-governmental consultations that concluded in Berlin yesterday.

The assistance is intended to finance joint development of technical solutions to overcome the problems facing the integration of power grids and also to speed up the construction of power lines to efficiently transport electricity generated by renewable energy sources, the ministry said in a press statement. India has been a main partner of Germany's development cooperation for more than five decades and the two nations are currently focusing on environment protection and combating climate change, promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency, adaptation to the climate change and support for environmentally relevant urban infrastructure development.

Building up of the power transmission lines and efficient feeding of electricity generated by renewable energy sources into the power grid "presented enormous challenges" to India and Germany is keen to support its Indian partners in these areas, Kopp said.

Development of renewable energy is a common goal of India and Germany, she said.

There is no alternative to building up renewable energy in the fight against climate change. Building up of renewable energy is very crucial to bring power generation in India in harmony with environment protection, Kopp said. The agreement was signed in presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who jointly chaired the inter-governmental consultations.