The union government has approved the equity infusion of Rs 1,500 crore in Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). The decision was informed by cabinet minister Anurag Thakur in a press conference.
This infusion of equity enables IREDA to lend Rs 12,000 crore to green energy projects. IREDA is a mini ratna company under the administration control of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. This was setup in 1987 to work as a specialized non-banking finance agency for the renewable energy sector.
As a result of the equity infusion by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affair, IREDA will now be able to facilitate the debt requirement of additional renewable energy generation capacity of range 3,500-4,000 MW.
Not only that, nearly 10,200 jobs/year will be generated and carbon emission of approximately 7.49 million tonnes will be curbed. The move aims to enhance IREDA’s networth which will help it in additional renewable energy financing. It will also improve its capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) to facilitate lending and borrowing operations.
In November,2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s aim to achieve the net-zero emissions by 2070 at COP26. The event was hosted in Glasgow, United Kingdom which was delayed by a year due to COVID-19.
The commitment was added with another aim of achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.
Till date, the country has installed electricity generation capacity of 392 GW out of which 104 GW is renewables energy and the rest 209 GW is generated by coal.