MANU/PIBU/1290/2018

Department/Board : Press Information Bureau

Date : 28.08.2018

Government of India and the World Bank sign $300 Million Agreement to help scale-up India's Energy Efficiency Program

The Government of India and the World Bank signed here today a $220 million Loan Agreement and a $80 million Guarantee Agreement for the India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Program. The Program, to be implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), will help scale-up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL's institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.

The Agreement for the Project was signed by Mr. Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Hisham Abdo, Acting Country Director, World Bank India, on behalf of the World Bank.

The investments under the Program are expected to avoid lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of 170 million tons of CO2, and contribute to avoiding an estimated 10 GW of additional generation capacity. This would be over 50 percent of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency target of 19.6 GW indicated in India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Accord.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance said that the Program will help tackle the financing, awareness, technical and capacity barriers faced by new energy efficiency programs and support the UJALA program of the Government of India. He said that this is one of the several steps being taken by the Government of India to meet its climate change commitments to reduce carbon intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030.

The Key Components of the Operation include: Creating sustainable markets for LED lights and energy efficient ceiling fans; facilitating well-structured and scalable investments in public street lighting; developing sustainable business models for emerging market segments such as super-efficient air conditioning and agricultural water pumping systems; and strengthening the institutional capacity of EESL. Moreover, the Program will help to increase private sector participation in energy efficiency, including through private sector energy service companies. Under the Program, EESL will deploy 219 million LED bulbs and tube lights, 5.8 million ceiling fans, and 7.2 million street lights, which will be supplied by private sector manufacturers and suppliers.

As an integral part of the operation, the first-ever IBRD guarantee in India will help EESL access new markets for commercial financing in line with the Bank's approach of maximizing finance for development. The guarantee is expected to leverage some $200 million in additional financing, to help EESL with its growing portfolio and future investment needs.

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