India 'shifting' in favour of renewables? 90% decline in finance to coal power projects

By A Representative
The Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), a top Delhi-based advocacy group, has said that an analysis of 52 project finance deals comprising loan component across coal-fired power and renewable energy projects (hydroelectric, geothermal, wave, wind and solar power projects), shows that 80 per cent of the project money went to renewables last year.
Pointing out that coal received just 20 per cent of the project finance, the analysis said, of the total lending to coal power projects (Rs 6,081 crore), Rs 3,938 crore came from majority government-owned financial institutions. On the other hand, of the total lending to renewable power projects (Rs 24,442 crore), Rs 18,263 crore came from majority privately-owned commercial banks.

The CFA analysis asserted that this trend is consistent with findings from 2017, adding, the deals were identified via investigation of subscription-based financial databases provided by Bloomberg Professional, IJGlobal, Thomson Reuters and market disclosures. It underlined, there was an astonishing 90 per cent decline in 2018 coal power project finance/lending compared to 2017.

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