The International Finance Corp (IFC), the private financing arm of the World Bank, on Tuesday said it will partner PTC India Financial Services (PFS) to provide infrastructure financing for renewable energy projects in India.
"PFS becomes the first institution in India, and the twenty-sixth globally, to sign IFC's master cooperation agreement. This collaboration will help standardize steps that lenders take when co-financing projects with IFC," the World Bank Group member said in a statement here.
"The ultimate aim is to make local currency financing available in shorter time-frames and reduce financing costs for borrowers, enabling them to operationalize projects faster," it added.
The IFC's master cooperation agreement was created in 2009 for financial institutions to collaborate more closely to help meet the shortfalls in private sector financing during the global financial crisis.
"Since then, signatories have co-invested more than $3 billion with IFC to support private sector development across the world," the statement said.
"This partnership will deepen our cooperation with IFC and other development financiers in areas such as renewable energy. In addition to reducing costs, our clients will also have access to global best practices, including IFC's environmental and social guidelines," said R.M Malla, chief executive of PFS, a non-banking finance company.
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"IFC and PFS can work more efficiently with Indian companies to spur private sector development by providing long-term risk capital where it is needed most," said Hyun-Chan Cho, IFC's Asia Pacific head of infrastructure and natural resources.
