India has capital — but few bankable projects
State Bank of India's project‑finance chief said India’s climate transition faces ample capital but a shortage of bankable projects, spotlighting execution and structuring as the bottleneck for scaling renewables and transition assets. That gap points to demand for transaction advisory that converts policy intent into finance-ready deals. (x.com)
Bavani Sankaran S — Chief General Manager, Project Finance & Syndication at State Bank of India — told delegates that India’s net‑zero transition will need roughly $10 trillion and cited a recent pitch to SBI for a proposed five‑million‑tonne green hydrogen plant where the promoter had offtake commitments covering only 20% of capacity. (outlookbusiness.com)) SBI’s FY2024‑25 sustainability disclosure shows the bank financed ₹76,736 crore of renewable energy in that year and has a dedicated ESG and Climate Finance unit to guide such lending. (sbi.bank.in)) The French Development Agency has provided SBI a €100 million credit facility for climate investments that has been used to finance electric buses and resilience projects, underscoring available external capital lines for Indian banks. (afd.fr)) The Reserve Bank of India issued Project Finance Directions to harmonize project‑finance regulation, effective October 1, 2025, while RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra has publicly urged creation of a pooled catalogue of bankable climate projects to attract institutional investors. (rbi.org.in)) Analysts flag concrete bankability hurdles beyond offtake risk: early‑stage technologies such as green hydrogen and grid‑scale storage lack commercial track records, and stressed state distribution companies continue to undermine power‑sector cash flows needed for long‑tenor financing. (outlookbusiness.com)) Consulting and transaction‑advisory demand is rising — SBI has engaged firms to build operational eligibility tools for climate financing and market commentators advocate blended‑finance structures and pooled project platforms to translate policy intent into finance‑ready deals. (espelia.fr))
