India to back Sri Lanka's solar ambitions with USD-100m loan

The Indian government will extend USD 100 million (EUR 89.1m) in debt to Sri Lanka that will enable the country to install solar rooftop systems on government buildings.

The loan will be provided through Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank). Apart from financing the construction of photovoltaic (PV) arrays on government buildings, the money will be used to solarise select low-income households in the districts of Trincomalee, Moneragala, Anuradhapura and Hambantota, the government of Sri Lanka announced last week. Specific details about the projects were not available.

Sri Lanka aims at producing 20% of its total electricity from renewables by end-2020. It surpassed its previous goal for a 10% renewables production in 2015, a year earlier than planned. Its solar ambitions are being promoted by the Soorya Bala Sangramaya programme. According to a joint study by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), the island country has the potential to deploy 16 GW of solar power capacity.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.8911)

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