Clean energy gets more loans than coal for third year

Indian lenders channeled more funds to clean energy projects compared to coal-based ones for a third straight year in 2020 with more expected to flow into the renewables sector in the coming years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled ambitious goals last month for cutting emissions.

Clean energy projects received 74 per cent of the total funds from financial institutions last year, or Rs 24,380 crore, according to a report by New Delhi-based research organizations Climate Trends and Centre for Financial Accountability. That’s a 6 per cent rise from 2019 approvals for clean energy projects of about Rs 22,971 crore in 2019.