MANILA, Oct 29 (NNN-PNA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB), announced today that, it has approved a 460-million-U.S.-dollar results-based loan, to modernise rural power infrastructure, promote distributed renewable energy generation, and improve agricultural productivity, by providing farmers with reliable daytime solar electricity for irrigation, in the state of Maharashtra, India.
According to the ADB, the agriculture solarisation programme aligns with the state’s Power Sector Vision 2030, which seeks to accelerate renewable energy adoption, improve rural energy access, and strengthen the financial sustainability of the power sector.
An additional 40 million dollars concessional loan from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), administered by ADB, will complement the programme.
The ADB said, the programme will solarise agricultural feeders, upgrade rural distribution networks, deploy battery energy storage systems, and promote green jobs and entrepreneurship, particularly for women.
By 2028, the programme aims to provide daytime electricity to at least 900,000 agricultural consumers and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by over three million tonnes.
Key programme components include modernising Maharashtra’s distribution network, to make it renewable-energy-ready, and contributing to a viability gap funding facility to support 1,000 megawatts (MW) of decentralised solar generation.– NNN-PNA
