SBI inks $165 million LoC with World Bank to promote rooftop solar projects

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday mentioned that it has inked a $165 million (above Rs 1,300 crore) Line of Credit (LoC) with the World Bank to promote rooftop solar projects in the nation.

The LoC is intended to aid grid-connected rooftop Solar PV Projects in residential and institutional sectors, SBI said in a regulatory filing.

Earlier this week, SBI signed a 200 million euro (about Rs 1,800 crore) LoC with the European Investment Bank for supporting climate action projects.

In September, SBI had stated its plans to make home loans with rooftop solar installations compulsory for residential projects funded from the bank's long-term climate action funds drawn down from multilateral agencies.

The multinational public sector bank has outstanding forex loans of $2.3 billion from multilateral agencies such as World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and KfW.

The Mumbai-headquartered bank plans to make it mandatory for builders to make rooftop solar installations once the project is funded from the bank's green funds, said Ashwini Kumar Tewari, managing director in charge of international banking, information technology and associates and subsidiaries at SBI, citing media reports.

He also said that SBI is planning to make it a bundled deal for home loan applicants in the coming years, while further stating that bank is raising its exposure to green initiatives, including funding green buildings, and battery recycling.

In the quarter ending September, SBI registered a 9.13 per cent growth in consolidated net profit, as compared to Rs 14,752 crore in the same period last year.