The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $250 million as part of an assistance package to Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a public sector energy service company, to expand energy efficiency investments in India.

“India’s energy efficiency potential is largely untapped—amounting to possible energy savings of about 17% of the country’s total power generated in financial year 2019,” said ADB Principal Energy Specialist Mr. Jiwan Acharya. “The project will adopt proven energy efficient technologies to reduce electricity network losses and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The country is still largely dependent on fossil fuels, particularly coal power.

Under the COP21 Paris Climate Agreement, India pledged to reduce the energy intensity of its economy by 33% to 35% from 2005 levels by 2030. But the government faces various regulatory, institutional, financial, and consumer barriers to achieving these targets.

EESL was established in 2009 as a joint venture of four public sector undertakings of the Ministry of Power to pursue large-scale energy efficiency investments, providing a comprehensive package of project design, implementation, monitoring, and investment.

The project is due for completion in March 2025.