UK Launches $300m Fund to Accelerate Renewable Power Projects in India

Sarah J · 2026-05-19T12:56:52.000Z

The UK has launched a $300 million (£224m) renewable energy platform in India, as the world's third-largest clean energy market races to close a $160 billion annual funding gap needed to keep its 2030 clean energy targets on track. The fund British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution, will commit $150 million to the platform — called North Star — with Danish fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) providing the remaining $150 million. North Star is the first investment made through British Climate Partners, a £1.1 billion climate finance initiative that BII launched last month. What it will fund The platform will invest across solar, wind, hybrid, and storage projects. It is expected to generate more than 4 million megawatt-hours of clean energy annually and avoid around 4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year. India's clean energy context India reached 50% of total installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources in June 2025 — five years ahead of its Paris Agreement target In March 2026, India crossed 150 gigawatts of installed solar capacity India added a record 44.61 gigawatts of solar in the last financial year — almost double the prior year India is now the world's third-largest renewable energy market by installed capacity India needs $160 billion per year to meet its target of 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 Uneven progress Growth has been concentrated in a handful of states — Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra — while Bihar, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh have been slower to build out clean energy infrastructure. Broader programme The British Climate Partners programme is expected to mobilise £3.5 billion of private capital over the lifetime of its investments, with total commitments reaching £4.6 billion across India and fast-growing economies in South and South-East Asia, including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. UK Development Minister Baroness Jenny Chapman: "Traditional development finance alone cannot meet that call, indeed it never could. Nor can it respond to the scale of today's challenges. We need to bring new ideas and a broader coalition of partners to the table."

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UK Launches $300m Fund to Accelerate Renewable Power Projects in India | SEINET