New Delhi, India, March 9, 2011—
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and India’s Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute will jointly identify and develop renewable-energy projects in South Asia to help meet the region’s energy needs while better controlling greenhouse-gas emissions.
IFC is working with Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute, known as GERMI, to design and structure a distributed-rooftop solar-power project in Gandhinagar, capital city of Gujarat state. The project, a five-megawatt solar installation, is expected to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by about 6,000 tons a year and mobilize about $20 million in private sector investment.
“GERMI’s research and training capabilities can now be combined with IFC’s financial expertise and ability to implement clean-energy projects on a much wider scale,” said D. Jagatheesa Pandian, Chairman of GERMI.
Since the time IFC signed a memorandum with GERMI during the Vibrant Gujarat 2011 conference earlier this year, the two organizations, basis the preliminary discussions, have identified areas of cooperation.
This initiative will, for example, help explore opportunities and evolve solutions, including replicating solar-rooftop projects in cities like Bhuj and Rajkot, exploiting Gujarat’s geothermal potential, sharing knowledge on ways to encourage private investment in solar projects and explore public-private partnership opportunities to harness solar energy in other states as well.
Vipul Bhagat, Manager of IFC Advisory Services for Public-Private Partnerships in South Asia, said, “IFC is committed to promoting alternate energy-generation projects from renewable sources within South Asia. Innovative and replicable business models developed in partnership with private developers will help bring scale to renewable-energy projects.”
IFC’s advisory services in public-private partnerships help governments achieve long-term economic growth and provide improved standards of living by harnessing the potential of the private sector to increase access, enhance quality, and improve the efficiency of public services.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. We create opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We do so by providing financing to help businesses employ more people and supply essential services, by mobilizing capital from others, and by delivering advisory services to ensure sustainable development. In a time of global economic uncertainty, our new investments climbed to a record $18 billion in fiscal 2010. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute
GERMI is a center for excellence in industry learning, research and development, and education. The institute develops human-resource assets catering to the renewable and nonrenewable-energy sectors. It also helps improve the knowledge base of policymakers and technologists and provides a competitive edge to leaders to compete in the global arena. GERMI is promoted by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Limited, a public sector undertaking. To learn more, visit
www.germi.org
.