VIJAYAWADA: In a bid to mobilise financial assistance for energy efficiency projects proposed in the State, the energy department has constituted a committee of financial institutions with members from eight banks and three non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). The committee shall focus on energy efficient projects at state level, especially those facing financing issues, and the members of the committee shall finance these projects on technical recommendation of the AP State Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM).
The committee shall also propose any policy initiatives for increasing Energy Efficiency (EE) financing and development of the energy efficiency market in the State, according to a statement from the APSECM on Sunday. Energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli constituted the committee by nominating an executive of Union Bank of India as chairman, an executive of State Bank of India as vice-chairman and chief executive officer of APSECM A Chandrasekhara Reddy as the as the convener, along with other members.
“For the first time in the State, a committee with members from banks such as Union Bank, SBI, PNB, YES Bank, IOB, Bank of India, Central Bank Of India and HDFC bank, and three NBFCs — NABARD,PFC,IIFL home loans — has been formed for facilitating financing for energy efficiency projects in the State. These financial institutions will get the benefit of Partial Risk Guarantee Funding for Energy Efficiency (PRGFEE) scheme, if they are empanelled with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE),” the statement said.
The APSECM shall seek energy efficiency proposals from various stakeholders in different sectors such as industries (large or small), buildings, agriculture, etc and carry out technical appraisal of the proposed projects. Based on technical viability, it will recommend the project to the committee for financing them.
Speaking on the occasion, energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli said that the PRGFEE was an innovative financial instrument which uses public resources to channelise private sector finance towards promoting energy efficiency in different sectors. He requested all the members of banks and NBFCs to financially support the projects in the state and encourage the energy efficiency measures as a social responsibility also.