Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement for a maximum amount of JPY 10 billion with Tata Cleantech Capital Limited (TCCL), a JV between Tata Capital Limited (Tata Group) and IFC (World Bank Group), to support the company to offer loans to businesses across India that focus on renewable energy generation, electric vehicles (EV) as well as energy efficiency following the green loan principles. This loan will be provided through Private Sector Investment Finance scheme of JICA and is co-financing with the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).
India is the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gas (GHG) at present and is projected to emit more GHG as the economy grows rapidly. The Government of India has ratified Paris Agreement in 2016, in which India promised to decrease the emission of GHG per GDP by 33~35 per cent before 2030. To achieve the target, the Government of India is promoting mitigation measures such as installation of renewable energy (solar power, wind power etc.), energy efficient equipment, and EV.
JICA’s loan will support TCCL to mitigate the impact of climate change by offering green finance, which will contribute to decrease the emission of GHG in India. It will also contribute to SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) Goals 7 and 13. JICA will continue its support for climate change initiatives in the world and continue to mobilise private finance for this sector.
Green Loans are loans that are limited for use in environmentally conscious projects. Against the backdrop of the expansion of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investments, the green loan market has developed rapidly as an environment-oriented finance. In order to provide standard guidelines for loan in this sector, Asia Pacific Loan Market Association formulated the Green Loan Principles with its recent version published in February 2021.