Massive fall in funding for coal projects
An analysis of power projects — both coal and renewables — that achieved financial closure in 2017 and 2018 reveals a massive 90 per cent fall in loans for coal.
As many as 54 projects that achieved financial closure in 2018 attracted ₹30,524 crore of loans; 80 per cent of it went to renewable energy projects, says a report titled ‘Coal Vs renewables finances analysis’, produced by a New Delhi-based research body, Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA).
There was a telling fall in lending for coal — the biggest cause of climate change-causing carbon dioxide emitter. In 2017, ₹60,767 crore of loans were sanctioned for 12 coal-fired projects worth 17,000 MW; in contrast, in 2018, only five projects of 3,800 MW got loan sanctions of ₹6,081 crore, the report says.
