625 mn euro German loan for GEC project

India has signed a 625 million euro loan agreement with Germany for financing the Green Energy Corridors (GEC) project under Indo-German bilateral development cooperation, the union finance ministry said Thursday.

"Department of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Rajesh Khullar signed loan agreements with the German government's development bank KfW for a loan of 76 million euro to Tamil Nadu and 49 million euro to Rajasthan for intra-state transmission schemes," a statement here said.

"The Power Grid Corporation of India signed a loan agreement for 500 million euro with KfW for inter-state transmission schemes," it added.

With this, the total commitment from Germany for the GEC project stands at 750 million euro, while in 2013 the country had committed 250 million euro.

The project aims to create transmission infrastructure in states with high renewable energy potential and facilitate its evacuation into the national grid.

Agreements were also signed between the Department of Economic Affairs and KfW for a grant of 2 million euro to provide technical assistance to the Himachal Pradesh Forest Ecosystems Climate Proofing project, the statement said.