India Inc's top companies join the India-UK Climate Finance Initiative

Members include Tata Sons, GIC Pvt Ltd, Goldman Sachs, HDFC Bank, HSBC, among others; initiative aims to mop up private capital to support India's goal of 450 Gw renewable energy by 2030

The Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) launched jointly by the UK and Indian government in September this year to support climate and green energy projects in India will have leading Indian and global business groups as founding members.

CFLI India members include Tata Sons, GIC Private Limited, Goldman Sachs, HDFC Bank, HSBC, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Macquarie Group and State Bank of India.

The UK and Indian governments in September launched a Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) India partnership, which aims to mobilise private capital into sustainable infrastructure here. These investments will support India’s target of 450 Gw renewable energy by 2030.

Under CFLI, a group of leading financial instruments would mobilise private capital into sustainable infrastructure in India, including clean energy like wind and solar power and other green technologies. It is chaired by Michael Bloomberg, UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions.

In a statement, CFLI said, the India chapter will seek to accelerate financing for opportunities in enabling infrastructure for renewables; water and waste infrastructure for a circular economy; electric mobility and charging infrastructure; and innovations for decarbonizing several industrial sectors.

 N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, said the group will look forward to driving this initiative forward alongside other leading global financial institutions and corporates. "We will work towards advancing the public-private collaboration that is vital to strengthening enabling policy environments for unlocking private capital and moving towards net-zero goals," he said.

CFLI India is the first in a series of country pilots formed by the CFLI. In its statement, it said, the CFLI members can help fill the BloombergNEF-estimated $649 billion financing gap across the power sector for India to reach its 450GW renewable energy target.

Led by Bloomberg, CFLI India is co-chaired by Shemara Wikramanayake, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Group, and N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons. It is also supported by the UK and Indian Governments, the City of London Corporation and the Global Infrastructure Facility.

CFLI was formed in 2018 by Mike Bloomberg at the request of United Nations Secretary General António Guterres to lead a private sector initiative to support a global mobilization of private finance in response to the challenge of climate change.

CFLI is responsible for $6.2 trillion in assets and aims to create "investment-friendly business environments and robust pipelines of bankable sustainable infrastructure opportunities in emerging markets," the statement said.