State Bank of India needs to finance coal projects to meet the Indian leader’s push to electrify more homes, yet it wants to back renewable projects to appease investors like BlackRock Inc. For now it’s doing a bit of both. There are so many coal mines being developed in India because we need them to produce steel, aluminum, electricity." That’s because there was hardly any demand for new loans from fossil-fuel producers last year, he said, adding that most long-term loans to thermal projects are existing commitments. The company doesn’t give a break-down of its lending to coal or other segments within the power sector. “Being the largest bank in the country we are also the largest funder of solar initiatives of large companies," he said.

Source: Mint June 03, 2021 00:00 UTC