The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an US$850 million loan to support the second phase of reforms underpinning India’s flagship residential rooftop solar programme.
The funding will support subprogram two of the Accelerating Affordable and Inclusive Rooftop Solar Systems Development Program, which backs the government of India’s Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY) (subscription required). The scheme targets the installation of rooftop PV systems across ten million low- and middle-income households, adding 30GW of residential solar capacity by FY2027.
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The latest financing follows ADB’s approval of subprogram one in November 2025, which established the policy, regulatory, financing and digital frameworks required to scale residential rooftop solar deployment nationwide.
Subprogram two shifts the focus towards execution, with measures designed to improve consumer incentives, expand access to financing, strengthen grid readiness and increase participation from distribution companies (DISCOMs) and private sector developers. The programme will also support digital monitoring systems, domestic solar manufacturing, energy storage deployment and PV recycling initiatives.
ADB said the financing will help reduce upfront installation costs through financial assistance supporting at least 3.5 million residential rooftop PV systems, while streamlining digital application and monitoring processes to improve project delivery.
Additional initiatives include support for model solar villages, distributed solar demonstration projects, improved vendor accountability and stronger frameworks for end-of-life management of PV modules and battery waste.
According to data released by Indian energy research firm JMK Research, the rooftop solar segment recorded approximately 6.4GW of additions during the period, marking a 104% year-on-year increase.
ADB-led consortium reaches financial close on Timor-Leste’s first utility-scale solar-plus-storage project
In other news, a consortium comprising ADB, the World Bank Group, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the government of Canada has reached financial close on Timor-Leste’s first utility-scale solar PV and battery energy storage project.
The project is located within 350 hectares of state-owned land in Lifau Suco, Manatuto Municipality.
The US$85.7 million project will be developed by Manatuto Renewables Power and comprises a 73.7MWac grid-connected solar PV plant paired with an 80.2MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), alongside transmission infrastructure and associated facilities.
Power generated by the facility will be sold to state-owned utility EDTL, under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
The financing package includes US$12.2 million in senior debt from ADB, US$19 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and US$12.2 million from JICA.
An additional US$42.4 million will be provided through concessional financing, including US$21.2 million from ADB’s Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund 2 (LEAP2), supported by JICA and the government of Canada’s Canadian Climate and Nature Fund for the Private Sector in Asia (CANPA), and a further US$21.2 million from the World Bank Group through the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window (IDA PSW) and the IFC Concessional Capital Window.
The project was competitively procured following a transaction advisory process led by ADB on behalf of EDTL. The contract was awarded to EDF power solutions, a subsidiary of the EDF Group, together with I-Environment Investments Pacific, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Corporation. The World Bank Group acted as lead arranger for the debt financing.
In 2017, ADB said it was supporting the deployment of solar PV systems across five of the Cook Islands as part of the government’s target to supply all inhabited islands with renewable energy by 2020.
The bank’s regional energy programme focused on expanding renewable energy and strengthening energy sector governance across the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu.
