KfW Grants Rs 600 Cr Loan for 125 MW Solar Project in West Bengal

• KfW has granted a Rs 600 crore financing to WBSEDCL for the work on the very first phase of a 125 MW solar project in the Purba Medinipur area of West Bengal.

German state-owned advancement financial institution KfW has actually provided a Rs 600 crore financing to the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) for the work on the initial phase of a 125 MW solar PV power project in the Purba Medinipur district of the state.

The information was validated by state Power Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay. The project to be performed by the WBSEDCL, on conclusion, will certainly double the state's mounted solar capability in the state, he stated.

The 15-year finance will certainly carry an interest rate of 0.15 percent and cover 80 percent of the overall project cost of Rs 750 crore. "For the very first stage of the 125 MW solar park at Dadanpatra in Purba Medinipur, the major price is being funded by the KfW amounting to Rs 600 crore at a low rates of interest of 0.15 percent. We will certainly money the rest. The total project is of 200 MW," Chattopadhay told neighborhood reporters.

The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) has actually given its clearance for the financing from the German state-owned growth financial institution.

The project will need 1,000-acre plot of which 600-acre has been organized et cetera is in the process of acquisition, he claimed. WBSEDCL will pump in the continuing to be Rs 150 crore as equity.

Asked whether the project is facing hold-up due to COVID-19 pandemic, the minister said, cyclone Amphan and also coronavirus-related disturbances had actually pressed the project however the state was trying for laying the foundation rock for the plant before Durga Puja.

Previously in June, WBSEDCL had released an expression of passion (EOI) for the engineering, procurement and also building and construction (EPC) of the turnkey solar energy plant under the 125 MW phase-1 of the solar park project. It was reported as funds from German Bilateral Finance Cooperation as well as matching equity of the Government of WB had been earmarked for the Solar Park Project.

Previously in May, the WBSEDCL had actually issued a tender for the geotechnical examination as well as dimension of Earth resistivity at the proposed 200 MW (125 MW in 1st Phase & 75 MW in 2nd Phase) solar park website located in Medinipur, West Bengal. The extent of work for the selected companies consists of the testing of the dirt resistivity in the area as routed by the Controlling Officer of the work by 'Wenner for electrode method'.