Kolkata: The sun shines brighter for small and marginal farmers in India as SwitchON Foundation has partnered with Punjab National Bank for the promotion of solar pumps. A First Loss Default Guarantee Fund will be set up by SwitchON Foundation through which Punjab National Bank will be financing solar pumps, says a press release.
“This partnership is extremely important in creating an ecosystem for encouraging large scale deployment of solar pumps. It is perhaps a first of its kind agreement between a private not for profit organisation with a leading public sector bank to set up a Guarantee Fund, which is otherwise, usually set up by Governments,” said Vinay Jaju, Managing Director of SwitchON Foundation.
Guarantee funds are set up to improve project bankability and reduce lender’s risk perception – such arrangements have been set up by the Ministry of MSME to increase lending for small business. In this unique arrangement the guarantee fund is…
