The World Bank approved $1.5 billion in funding on Saturday for a second operation aimed at assisting India, the world’s largest economy with the fastest pace of growth, in accelerating the development of low-carbon energy.
The second ‘Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation’ will support reforms to boost the production of green hydrogen and electrolysers, critical technology needed for green hydrogen production.
This operation is in line with the World Bank’s Hydrogen for Development (H4D) Partnership as well as the government’s energy security.
As per the World Bank, the implementation of the reforms is anticipated to yield a minimum of 450,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen and 1,500 MW of electrolysers annually starting from FY25/26.
Furthermore, it will play a major role in supporting the reduction of emissions by 50 million tonnes annually and increasing the capacity of renewable energy sources.
Additionally, the operation will assist with efforts to expand the country’s carbon credit market.
“The World Bank is pleased to continue supporting India’s low-carbon development strategy which will help achieve the country’s net-zero target while creating clean energy jobs in the private sector,” said Auguste Tano Kouame, World Bank Country Director for India.
“Both the first and second operations have a strong focus on boosting private investment in green hydrogen and renewable energy,” Kouame added.
The Indian economy is anticipated to keep growing quickly.
The World Bank states that increasing renewable energy will be necessary to decouple economic growth from emissions increase, particularly in industrial sectors that are difficult to regulate.
Team leaders Aurelien Kruse, Xiaodong Wang, and Surbhi Goyal stated that “India has taken bold action to develop a domestic market for green hydrogen, underpinned by rapidly expanding renewable energy capacity.”
The World Bank approved the $1.5 billion first operation in June 2023. This operation supported the issuance of a clear path to launch 50 GW of renewable energy tenders annually, the creation of a legal framework for a national carbon credit market, and the waiver of transmission charges for renewable energy in green hydrogen projects.
