ADB has been supporting its Developing Member Countries (DMCs) in the energy sector for more than 40 years to increase access to electricity – this has played a critical role in poverty reduction and economic growth. This includes improving generation, transmission, and distribution. Promoting demand side energy efficiency has also been central to the bank’s work, along with policy and governance reform to make the sector more responsive and lower costs.
Commenting on the loan approved for India, ADB Principal Energy Specialist Len George, said, “ADB has been working with the Government of India to help ramp up its transition to clean and renewable energy and facilitate policy actions to ensure a sustainable, inclusive, and climate-friendly power supply. This policy-based loan will help reduce barriers to scale up commercial financing for clean energy and contribute to India’s fulfillment of its climate change mitigation commitments.”
The Power Sector Reform Program (Subprogram 1) is the first of a two-part program to strengthen the development of markets for power trade and related ancillary services. This will facilitate the integration of intermittent renewable energy given India’s target of 50% of its power generation capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. These policy actions will, among others, help accelerate the deployment of solar and other renewable energy technologies, promote the use of renewables in the agriculture sector, and optimize dispatch of power plants to reduce emissions.
The loan will also enable measures to improve the financial performance, corporate governance, and service quality of electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) and create a conducive environment for private sector investment. It will aid in the implementation of an incentive-based results-oriented approach to improving DISCOM performance on parameters including losses, cost recovery, metering and timely payment of dues in order to access government budget support.
This program builds on ADB’s engagements in emerging areas such as green hydrogen that will be important to facilitate energy transition. ADB will provide financial grants of $1.5 million from its Technical Assistance Special Fund and the Climate Change Fund for capacity development and the implementation of policy reforms. The program has been prepared in coordination with other development partners, in particular German development cooperation through KfW.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members – 49 from the region.
