IREDA Plans 'Overseas Office' In Gujarat's GIFT City To Finance Renewable Energy Projects In Foreign Currency

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is planning to set up an office in Gujarat's GIFT City to finance renewable energy projects in foreign currency.

The office at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, will be classified as an overseas office, allowing the IREDA to avoid foreign exchange hedging cost.

Pradip Kumar Das, chairman and managing director of IREDA, made the announcement during a panel discussion on "Scaling up Clean Energy Investment in Emerging Economies" under the aegis of G20 events at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on Thursday (23 February).

During the discussion, Das stressed the importance of the Green Taxonomy to raise Rs 25 lakh crore fund for green energy projects by 2030.

He suggested that insurance and superannuation funds can be mandated to invest 2 per cent of their assets under management in Green Bonds to finance green energy projects.

He also highlighted IREDA's growth and commitment to corporate governance and its success in reducing its Net NPAs from 7.18 per cent to 2.03 per cent over the past three years.

Das noted that IREDA is the preferred choice for funding Renewable Energy projects for multilateral and bilateral agencies such as the World Bank, KfW, JICA, and ADB.

He also requested these agencies to review their appraisal process in order to speed up financial support by reducing processing time and other bottlenecks.