Distributed Renewable Energy Programs in India
CPI manages the US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) initiative: India’s first project preparation and pipeline development facility that catalyzes long-term debt financing to support promising distributed solar projects.
Since 2017, USICEF has identified and supported nearly 50 early-stage businesses across 20 states in India. These companies received USD 5 million in grant-based funding, which mobilized more than USD 285 million in debt to help scale these renewable energy start-ups into successful commercial enterprises, creating more than 670MW of new renewable energy capacity, along with an estimated 20,000 jobs.
Given the success of USICEF, CPI has initiated a new ICEF program to further catalyze financing for small and mid-scale distributed renewable energy generation and applications in India. Like its predecessor, ICEF will be managed as a private sector project preparatory facility with a returnable grant structure, aiming for a 40x debt mobilization rate based on the success of the original USICEF program.
Both these initiatives are led by Dhruba Purkayastha.
Featured work
Publication
USICEF Impacts and Lessons learned, 2017-2021
Since launching in 2016, USICEF supported 47 solar power projects, which went on to mobilize 30x in commercial debt over the initial grants provided.
Publication
The Future of Distributed Renewable Energy in India
India will require an annual DRE investment of USD 18 billion by 2024, a 10x increase from current levels to meet its sustainability targets. This CPI report outlines the benefits and market potential of India’s DRE sector, examines the current policy and institutional landscape, and provides tailored recommendations for the different stakeholders.
Publication
Credit Support Pathways for Rooftop Solar Projects in India
The proposed Credit Guarantee Mechanism addresses the most important barriers to scaling rooftop solar in the MSME sector; and could be crucial if India wants to achieve its rooftop solar target by 2022.
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Latest work
Blog
Blended Finance for Climate Investment in India - Equity & Debt
In this blog, we describe how a select set of equity and debt blended finance instruments could be structured to make catalytic investments in India’s climate change sectors, attracting commercial capital towards projects that contribute to sustainable development, while providing financial returns to investors.
Blog
Podcast: Dhruba Purkayastha on the future of Distributed Renewable Energy in India
In this podcast, Dhruba Purkayastha, our India Director deliberates on the future of distributed renewable energy in India and its market potential.
Blog
Podcast: Dhruba Purkayastha on the Distributed Solar Sector in India
In this podcast, Dhruba Purkayastha, our India Director discusses the state of the distributed solar sector in India.
Blog
Going beyond the grid: The future of DRE in India
Distributed renewable energy has a major role in India’s clean energy access and sustainable development goals, but is yet to realize even a small fraction of its potential.
Publication
USICEF 2020 Impact Report
In just three years, USICEF has identified over 30 early-stage businesses across 20 states in India, mobilized USD 200mn in debt financing, and has committed a total of USD 5.1 million in grant-based funding to these projects.
Blog
Solar Municipal Bonds: Unlocking India’s Energy Potential
A recent study by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), creates a case for municipal entities to promote rooftop solar in India by issuing green bonds in capital markets.
Blog
Blending finance for risk mitigation
Our analysis also evaluates blended finance initiatives in clean energy, diving in-depth into a subset of them, to understand how barriers are currently being addressed and to identity any remaining gaps.
Blog
Greening institutional investment in India
A recent study by CPI attempts to develop a business case for institutional investors to invest in the Indian renewable energy sector, identifying key barriers to investment, and proposing potential pathways forward.
