The Small Industries Development Bank of India is the main financing body for tens of millions of India’s small businesses. The bank manages roughly four trillion rupees ($48 billion) in assets.
Its venture capital group secured a $24.5 million investment from the Green Climate Fund to invest in homegrown climate tech ventures that support India’s energy transition, resilient livelihoods and positive environmental impacts. SIDBI’s Avaana Sustainability Fund is targeting a $120 million raise.
Climate resilience
The UN-led Green Climate Fund has a portfolio of more than $13 billion in climate investments, focusing on the most vulnerable and frontline climate countries. Green Climate Fund estimates that 85% of India’s population – the largest in the world – faces climate vulnerability.
Its anchor investment in Avaana Sustainability Fund follows more than $3.4 billion in new commitments from the US, Italy, Switzerland, Australia and other countries made at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.
GCF aims for a 50/50 split in its portfolio between mitigation and adaptation investments.
Catalytic grants
Green Climate Fund also made three commitments aimed at catalyzing private funders into adaptation initiatives. A $25 million grant will support the government of Sierra Leone in bolstering coastal communities’ climate resilience. Another grant of the same size will help strengthen climate adaptation among Belize’s sugarcane farmers. And $12.5 million will shore up the Cook Islands’ healthcare system to withstand heightened demand in the face of natural disasters.
