India has set an ambitious target of 175GW of renewable energy by 2022. Of the target to install 175GW RE by 2022, 100GW has to come from solar — 40 GW rooftop solar and 60 GW ground-mounted utility-scales. The solar segment has the lion’s share in India’s promise of 175GW by 2032. However, the progress made by the solar sector has not been satisfactory due to various reasons out of which ease of financing is on the top.
To strengthen the current financing arrangement for solar rooftop projects, India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) collaborated with Tata Power and launched a dedicated centralized processing cell, ‘Surya Shakti Cell’. The cell will process all the loan applications for solar projects (capacity up to 1 MW) sourced from across the country, for installation by business entities and households. SBI aims to provide an end-to-end platform for a digital and hassle-free journey to the loan applicants for financing solar projects. With this digital initiative, SBI plans to offer a complete solution at competitive rates for solar projects to ensure that customers get all the necessary support and guidance to choose the right equipment, resolve technical issues at their door steps and get expeditious approvals of their loans at competitive rates.
The initiative is in line with the global objectives of the COP26 Agreement in reducing the carbon footprint. The prevailing challenges related to the use of conventional energy and climate change can be solved only with sustainable solar power like grid connected rooftop solar. Initiatives like these will also help build local economies and enable the country to move towards a secure energy future.
