India

‌

Background

The Forum on Green Finance and Investment is the annual flagship event of the OECD Centre on Green Finance and Investment. It brings together participants from all over the world, including investors, financial regulators, policy makers, and representatives from corporations and civil society, and offers a unique opportunity to discuss key policy priorities and untapped opportunities to ensure that the financial system is fit for purpose to translate its commitments on net zero and climate resilience into action. The Forum is an important event for the global sustainable finance and investment community. In 2022, the Forum was convened as a series of high-level panels and parallel sessions around the theme “Moving from commitments to actions in the decade for delivery: towards impactful green and sustainable finance”, responding to the pressing need to align finance with global climate, environmental and development objectives.

India has achieved major progress in its energy sector over the last two decades. Still, investment needs to scale up considerably to meet the government’s ambitions to achieve 500 GW of renewable energy capacity and energy-intensity reductions of 45% by 2030. Targeted application of public funds, alongside international climate and development finance can “crowd in” investors and channel private capital to meet India’s clean energy ambitions. The session will highlight key recommendations for offshore wind, green hydrogen production and energy efficiency measures in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), emerging from the Clean Energy Finance and Investment (CEFI) Roadmap of India developed by the OECD and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), under the guidance of diverse ministries across the government of India.

Key takeaways

Government policy is an extremely powerful tool in catalysing capital into different sectors, both on the supply and demand side. Supply side policies help drive down the costs of new technologies (e.g. waiver of transmission charges, production linked incentives) and demand side policies help create demand (e.g. blending mandates, carbon prices).

Blended finance is required to create the ecosystem to facilitate private finance to flow into new low carbon technology markets. This includes efficient use of grant money to provide payment/credit guarantees, training and capacity building, supporting regulatory framework development, and raising consumer awareness.

A key priority of India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to access new and advanced technologies. It looks to international partners like the OECD to share best practices and experience from other countries and to advise on policies, business models, and financing mechanisms required to enable technology transfers to India.

The OECD should use its convening power to facilitate knowledge exchange and learning from global best practices, especially to help India access new or advanced technologies in energy efficiency and renewable energy. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency stated its interest in learning about technological advances, the policy frameworks required to bring them forward, and the sectors that are most suitable for their deployment. At the same time, it is keen to understand how to mobilise low cost international finance to scale up of available/emerging technologies.

• Watch the video recording of the event
  

Speakers

Welcome

• Cecilia Tam, Team Leader, OECD Clean Energy Finance and Investment Mobilisation (CEFIM) programme
  
  

Opening remarks

• H. E. Freddy Svane, Ambassador of Denmark to India: “Key initiatives of the collaboration between Denmark and India” 
  
  

Keynote speaker

• Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO, Macquarie “What is needed to scale up capital mobilisation for clean energy in India?”
  
  

Panel Discussion

Moderator:  Cecilia Tam, Team Leader, OECD Clean Energy Finance and Investment Mobilisation (CEFIM) programme

• Shri Abhay Bakre, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency
• Mani Khurana, Senior Energy Specialist, World Bank
• Jean Monson, Director, Project Finance and ESG Finance for Asia Pacific, Asian Investment Banking Division, MUFG Bank
  
  

NRDC-OECD collaboration on the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Roadmap of India

• Poonam Sandhu, India Team Lead, Natural Resources Defense Council
  
  

Closing remarks

• Cecilia Tam, Team Leader, OECD Clean Energy Finance and Investment Mobilisation (CEFIM) programme