Power Finance Corporation has reduced its interest rates for renewables projects by 50 basis points, equating to a 0.50 per cent cut. The State lender to electricity utilities claims to have approved Rs 23.13 billion ($430 million) for 611 mw of renewable capacity in the year ending March 2012. According to Bloomberg, the company has lent a total Rs 53.73 billion to wind, solar and hydro projects.
In December last year, a report by the Climate Policy Initiative and the Indian School of Business found that high interest rates and relatively short-term loans for renewable energy projects in India adds 24-32 per cent to the cost of developing renewable energy projects in India. This makes it more expensive than in either the US or Europe. The revised rates apply to projects under the Ministry of New and Renewable EnergyÂ’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission and effective from February 2013.
Jasmeet Khurana, Consultant, Bridge to India, agrees that PFC is sending out the right signal to its peers. However, he also notes that it is not a significant development from a solar project developerÂ’s point of view as there are other avenues of international and Indian debt finance that can offer better terms.
However, the Indian market is currently in disarray due to the uncertainty surrounding the row over domestic content restrictions on imported modules that is now awaiting a resolution from the WTO.
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