JANUARY 20249TOP STORIESIREDA & INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK TO BOOST RENEWABLES ADOPTIONIREDA, a government-owned entity, has revealed a collaborative initiative with the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to jointly fund renewable energy projects in India. The formal agreement was finalized with the participation of Pradip Kumar Das, CMD of IREDA, and Ajay Kumar Srivastava, MD and CEO of IOB, in the national capital, according to an official statement.The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and the Indian Overseas Bank have collaborated through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This agreement paves the way for cooperative efforts in co-lending and loan syndication for a wide range of renewable energy projects throughout the country, as stated in the announcement.The IREDA CMD said, "By combining our strengths and resources, we aim to provide robust financial support to renewable energy projects. The partnership aims to streamline loan syndication and underwriting processes, management of Trust and Retention Account (TRA) for IREDA borrowers, and work towards fixed interest rates over a 3-4-year period for IREDA borrowings".IREDA's collaboration with Indian Overseas Bank further strengthens its successful partnerships with notable financial institutions, such as Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Union Bank of India, India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited, and Bank of Maharashtra, according to Das.Operating under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, IREDA is a non-banking financial institution dedicated to promoting, developing, and providing financial support for the establishment of projects associated with new and renewable sources of energy, as well as energy efficiency and conservation. OPEC IMPORT TO INDIA FALLS DUE TO RUSSIAN CRUDE OILAccording to data obtained from trade and industry sources, OPEC's annual share of India's crude imports fell to its lowest level ever in 2023, while discounted Russian barrels surged to an all-time high.India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, has long relied on nearby Middle Eastern nations to meet the majority of its oil needs in order to reduce freight costs. According to data, India imported nearly equal amounts of oil from OPEC members and non-members last year.The South Asian nation imported an average 4.65 million barrels per day (bpd) oil in 2023, up 2 percent from the previous year. OPEC's share in India's crude oil diet plunged to about 49.6 percent in the first nine months of this fiscal year from April compared with 64.5% a year earlier, the data show.Altered trade flows due to geopolitical tensions and costlier shipments from some traditional suppliers have expedited India's efforts to diversify its import sources and tap cheaper supplies from even far flung areas such as Russia. Imports of Russian oil accounted for about 36% of India's total crude purchases in 2023 at 1.66 million bpd, the data showed. In 2022, India imported an average 651,800 bpd Russian oil, the data shows.Discounted Russian oil also curtailed India's intake of Middle Eastern oil to the lowest level ever, the calculations show. Russian oil became cheaper for India as western nations shunned purchases from Moscow in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.
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