The grant will facilitate enterprises and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to raise commercial finance for investments in energy efficiency initiatives.
The grant will include a $37m partial risk sharing facility, which will be backed by a Global Environment Facility (GEF) and a Clean Technology Fund (CTF) contingent, along with a $6m technical assistance and capacity building component, backed by GEF.
According to World Bank, the project will benefit micro small and medium enterprises, commercial entities, building owners, large industries responsible for providing street lighting.
World Bank Country India Director Onno Ruhl said: "Improving energy efficiency will not just ease India’s energy shortfalls but also save millions of tonnes of CO2 from polluting the air each year.
"The biggest potential for these savings lies with small and mid-tier users such as MSMEs, town municipalities and even individual building owners, who are unable to access finance for EE projects. This innovative project will ease this constraint in the EE eco-system, leading thus to an EE transformation in India."
