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BAsD
Proparco
Proparco is participating in the loan extended by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to finance a 200 MW solar power plant in northwest India. The project, implemented by the ENGIE Group, represents a further milestone in the partnership with ADB. For Proparco, this risk participation is both an innovative operation and a strong commitment in supporting India’s renewable energy development.

Proparco participated for an amount of 1.066 billion Indian rupees (about 14.2mUSD) in a loan of up to 4.66 billion Indian rupees (about 62 mUSD) granted by ADB to Electro Solaire Private Limited (ESPL), to construct and operate a 200 MW solar PV plant in India’s western state of Gujarat.  

ESPL, a special purpose vehicle owned by the ENGIE group, has been set up to construct and operate this 200 MW solar photovoltaic plant. Commissioning of the solar power plant is expected in the first half of 2021. The plant will contribute to increasing the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix of the country which is expected to increase to 40% by 2030. It will help avoid nearly 385,000 tCO2 per year and the project will sustain close to 1,200 direct and indirect jobs.

This Risk Participation Agreement is the second transaction of the kind between Proparco and the multilateral development bank ADB. In 2015, Proparco entered into a 20mUSD risk participation related to a 100mUSD loan allocated by ADB to finance clean buses in China.

Ariane Ducreux, head of the Energy and Infrastructure Department at Proparco, declared “the project is fully compliant with the Paris Agreement and fosters the development of renewable energy in India. The intervention of Proparco as a risk participant to ADB is an innovative approach to such transactions. We hope that it will lead to future interventions of this kind in local currency with multilateral institutions.”

Aarti Mehra of the Guarantees and Syndications Unit at ADB said “Partnering with a fellow development financial institution like Proparco to be able to extend significant-sized local currency facilities fully aligns with ADB’s Strategy 2030 goal of achieving a 2.5x co-financing ratio. We are pleased that this partnership bore fruit even against the challenging backdrop of uncertainties resulting from COVID-linked lockdowns.”