SBI funds 100 MW rooftop solar projects with World Bank lending

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday announced the receipt of a World Bank loan for financing 100 MW rooftop solar projects worth $625 million (Rs 400 crore) by private developers.

"SBI has availed loan of $625 million from the World Bank for on-lending to viable Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar PV (GRPV) projects undertaken by PV developers/aggregators and end-users, for installation of rooftop solar systems on the rooftops of commercial, institutional and industrial buildings," the SBI and World Bank said here in a joint statement.

"This would add at least 100 MW of rooftop solar capacity to the grid," it said.

The capacity of the projects and programmes financed range from 25 kWp to 16 MW.

The developers that the SBI will be financing under this programme include Azure Power, Amplus and Cleanmax, among others.

SBI Deputy Managing Director Karnam Sekar said India has a huge potential to be the leader in the rooftop solar space.

"The SBI has so far sanctioned 100 MW of GRPV projects, while proposals are in the pipeline for another around 125 MW," he said.

Sekar also said that against the normal lending rate of 11-12 per cent, the SBI is financing the projects at a rate that is up to 3.5 percentage points less because India's largest lender can access World Bank funding at lower rates.

World Bank Senior Director Riccardo Puliti said: "Through this project and others like it, tens of millions of electricity customers will eventually be able to generate part of their own electricity needs from one of the cleanest sources of energy available."

Amplus said in a statement here on Friday that out of the SBI project for 100 MW, the company has a loan sanction for 56 MW.

--IANS

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