World Bank arm to partner IREDA for energy projects

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private financing arm of the World Bank, has said it would partner the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) to provide infrastructure financing for energy projects in India.

"This collaboration will help standardise steps that lenders take when co-financing projects with the IFC. The ultimate aim is to make local currency financing available in shorter time-frames and reduce financing costs for lenders and borrowers," the IFC said in a release on Wednesday.

IREDA, the financing arm of the renewable energy ministry, has become the second institution in India after PTC India Financial Services to sign IFC's master cooperation agreement.

"The partnership will help the IREDA increase its portfolio in financing renewable energy projects to support the government's plans to establish up to 175 gigawatts of renewable energy projects over the next seven years," K.S. Popli, IREDA chairman and managing director, said in a statement.

The IFC's master cooperation agreement was created in 2009 for financial institutions to collaborate more closely to help meet the shortfall in private sector financing during the global financial crisis.

"Since then, signatories have co-invested more than $3 billion with the IFC to support private sector development across the world," it said.

"Partnering with the IREDA will enable developers to speedily commission renewable energy projects while having a positive environmental footprint and creating jobs," said Vivek Pathak, IFC's director for Asia-Pacific.