NEW DELHI: The finance ministry on Wednesday said India and the United Kingdom have agreed to establish a bilateral Sustainable Finance Forum.
This was discussed during the 3rd session on infrastructure and sustainable finance during the 10th India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD).
During the meeting through virtual medium, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's USD 1.4 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline and the City of London are working together to ensure flow of sustainable finance.
This partnership is helping set up a Project Preparation Support Facility cum Centre of Excellence for PPP (public private partnership) projects, the finance ministry said in a series of tweets.
The Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) was launched in 2018 as a joint venture with 240 million pound funding to catalyse financing into green infrastructure in India, Sitharaman said, adding, British Petroleum has become the first private investor, contributing USD 70 million.
She further said India and the UK have increased cooperation through the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and co-chaired by the UK.
The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) have committed up to 2.
6 million pound for four joint research projects on the future of UK-India trade and investment, she added.
She said UK-India Fast-Track Startup Fund backed by SIDBI and the UK government will fund early-stage tech startups with technical assistance focused on capacity building, policy advocacy and deepening entrepreneurial connects with the UK.
She stated the UK-India FinTech Joint Working Group met in March 2020 to seek greater acceptance of RuPay Cards in the UK.
FinTech is a key engagement area for cooperation as a Sunshine Sector where India is number 4 in terms of potential, she added.