A taskforce recommended India create a dedicated Green Finance Institution to catalyse private capital for climate and industrial transition projects, aiming to unlock up to $1 trillion over the next decade.
India should create a dedicated Green Finance Institution to help fund climate and industrial transition projects at scale, according to a taskforce set up by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The panel said the body should act as a blended-finance platform, using guarantees, first-loss cover and other risk-sharing tools to draw in private capital rather than operate as a conventional state lender.
The proposal is aimed in particular at mid-sized firms and micro, small and medium enterprises, which the taskforce said often pay more for borrowing and have less access to finance. It wants green credit for these companies to flow mainly through banks and non-bank lenders using standardised products linked to the climate taxonomy, with the proposed institution offering partial credit support where needed.
The taskforce has set an indicative goal of helping unlock as much as $1 trillion in investment over five to 10 years, depending on the institution’s design, funding and pipeline of viable projects. Reuters-style reporting on the panel’s recommendations said the GFI could back renewable power, energy storage, clean transport, industrial decarbonisation, green hydrogen, offshore wind and supply-chain upgrades for smaller businesses.
Alongside the financing proposal, the taskforce wants India to make its carbon market more predictable by keeping the current emissions-intensity baseline-and-credit system while gradually tightening targets. It has also called for publishing the emissions-intensity path beyond 2026-27 so companies can plan ahead. In parallel, the panel wants India’s Climate Finance Taxonomy finalised, with governance rules and sector annexes, to give lenders, investors and insurers a common definition of climate-aligned activity.
The taskforce also recommended strengthening the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting framework by adding digital iXBRL filing, a phased assurance plan and fuller disclosure of transition plans, emissions targets and decarbonisation-related capital spending. According to the reports, the recommendations were presented at the launch of the taskforce’s report, chaired by Jayant Sinha, who has argued that India needs a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to speed up climate investment.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
