About

A consortium of US foundations in conjunction with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Government of India (GOI) launched the US-India Clean Energy Finance Initiative (USICEF) to increase clean energy access in India by catalysing investment in distributed renewable energy projects. USICEF focuses on the decentralized renewable energy (DRE) space, particularly the mini-grid, distributed rooftop and off-grid solar projects, as well as smaller-scale grid connected solar projects. The facility supports technical, financial, legal and other advisory services, by means of grants, required by the DRE companies to become attractive for debt investment. USICEF has created a pool of ready-to-scale companies to catalyze long-term debt financing from financial institutions in distributed renewable energy projects.

Assistance Criteria

The evaluation criteria is a combination of various parameters viz. Experience of the project team, company’s financial performance, implementation strategy and project bankability as well as development impact.

Countries

Support

The typical support ranges between USD 50,000 – USD 300,000, with maximum support capped at 2% of the overall project cost.

Application Process

The application process is open throughout the year and the potential applicants submit a standard USICEF grant application form along with all relevant project and company details. It is followed by a one-to-one discussion between the program manager and the applicant. The decision on grant selection happens through an advisory committee meeting, which is scheduled on a periodic basis. The application is available online here.

The empanelment with USICEF is an on-going process and consultants/service providers can submit their empanelment application form along with their credentials/relevant experience under various categories.

• The already empanelled service providers can also get empanelled under other categories provided relevant credentials are shared with the Program Manager.
• Service Providers may please contact the following officials in case of any clarifications required on the empanelment.