YES BANK has signed an MoU with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) to become the Participating Financial Institution (PFI) to avail the risk guarantee under the Partial Risk Guarantee fund for Energy Efficiency (PRGFEE). The PRGFEE is a risk sharing mechanism that provides YES Bank with a partial coverage of risk involved in extending loans for Energy Efficiency projects with an objective of scaling-up Energy Efficiency investments in India.

India continues to witness rapid development but to keep the momentum of growth high, availability of an uninterrupted power supply is a must. India needs electricity to fuel the growth of every industry, be it large-scale or small scale, manufacturing, healthcare or education.

In order to support banks and credit institutions to achieve robust credit growth in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector while managing the non-performing assets (NPAs), TransUnion CIBIL launched CIBIL MSME Rank (CMR) – a credit risk rank for MSMEs.

CMR is a credit risk rank for MSMEs that predicts the probability of an MSME becoming NPA in the next 12 months.

The Union Budget is full of sops for solar - in terms of investment, village electrification and taxes. But, it calls for building renewable power compatible T&D infrastructure on a war footing.

“The union Budget’s declaration of ‘100% village electrification by May 2018’ will be beneficial to power distribution segment. Also, the plan to add 20,000 MW solar power will boost solar segment.

Reduction in corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent for companies where turnover is less than Rs 50 crore is expected to enable the MSME companies in textile sector. This will help them allocate their resources in expansion and growth and is therefore a welcome step in that perspective

Government is already taking good care of the power sector since last 2.5 years hence there is not much sops for the sector in this budget. Budget initiatives that will have impact on the power sector have been listed below: 1. Government’s commitment towards ‘renewable energy’ and ‘Power for all’ has been reiterated through second round of solar capacity addition of 20,000 MW and 100 per cent village electrification.

Transmission and distribution (T&D) losses, Aggregate Transmission and Commercial losses (AT&C), quality of power and fluctuation in power supply are some of the major challenges faced by Indian power utilities. This is despite not overlooking the fact that in the last decade, the country witnessed sizeable improvement in quality of power, especially in urban and semi-urban areas.