Political Polling: personal finances help

The Asian Development Bank has roped in the European Investment Bank to invest in large-scale solar power plants in India. The ADB is committed to arrange finances for India’s ambitious National Solar Mission projects.

The Asian Development Bank has been working closely with many Asian countries to provide them financial, technical and policy-related support for expanding solar energy infrastructure. The ADB is playing an active role in India to make solar energy more popular. In addition to the European Investment Bank, the ADB has also attracted funding from the US Import-Export Bank and Germany’s KWF.

Under the National Solar Mission, India plans to install 20,000 MW solar-based power generation capacity by 2022. The current install capacity is a dismal 14 MW. The 20,000 MW capacity also includes the off-grid rural power plants. In order to rapidly increase the installed capacity the Indian government has announced two massive solar farm projects, one each in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Both these states are blessed with substantially high solar radiation resource and also have large areas of unused lands due to lower agricultural land use. Rajasthan has the vast Thar desert while Gujarat has vast wastelands in the west. Gujarat has set aside 2,500 hectare for a 1,000 MW plant while Rajasthan has set aside 8,000 hectare for a 3,000 MW plant. Construction of these plants is expected to start after 2013, that is, during the second phase of the National Solar Mission.

The ADB is also supporting the project developers who intend to set up power plants during the first phase. The first phase aims at installing 1,1o0 MW by 2013; ADB will support 350 MW of these installations. The smaller power plants have been provided with 50 percent loan guarantees and project developers will also provided direct loans.

The Asian Development Bank has been working closely with several ministries of the Indian government to devise overall policies and logistical support mechanism in order to make the solar energy projects commercially viable. The bank would also provide capital grants to cover up the difference between the cost of solar power generation and the average cost of generation from conventional sources.

Such collaborations with international funding agencies help in bridging the financial gap that exists for any new renewable energy technologies. In the absence of a clear agreement on international funding as part of an international climate change treaty, such partnerships with European and American banks helps in the quick implementation of these clean technology projects in the developing countries.

Image: technicolorcavalry/Flickr/CC

The views presented in the above article are author’s personal views and do not represent those of TERI/TERI University where the author is currently pursuing a Master’s degree.

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Consumers bewildered by a rash of resetting rates on loans and various outstanding credit lines now have the same tools banks have to aggregate all their debt in one place, after free online personal finance tool Credit Sesame launched a beta version today to help users get a complete financial snapshot all in one place.

Previously only available to banks or brokers, Credit Sesame uses an in-house loan analytics engine to help users instantly view their credit and debt in one place, while monitoring and tracking often baffling financial information like their credit score, home value and debt-to-income ratio simultaneously.

The news that they can now take their finances fully into their own hands is part of a continuing trend of consumers sick of commercial banks pushing their own complementary loan products on them — or who may just be sick of their bank or broker all together.

Under the company’s system, users are first asked to register their portfolios using the same security technology and encryption methods as banks and financial institutions use, and then Credit Sesame automatically retrieves users’ relevant data like debt, credit, and mortgages so that they don’t have to enter their information manually.

They can then fiddle with Credit Sesame’s tools to set personal goal parameters; see and apply for a wide variety of loans that may fit their restructuring needs; and even create a “what if” scenario that allows them to view multiple scenarios for potential savings or loans based on changes to a user’s financial situation such as a divorce or a job loss.

By using complex algorithms and portfolio “depth” testing, the new beta site will now create 5,000 scenarios with thousands of lending products to help each user find the three best pre-qualified solutions—saving an average user hundreds of dollars a month as they streamline their finances via the web ecosphere.

“We find homeowners as much as $600 a month in savings through restructuring, refinancing and new pre-qualified low-interest loan offers,” said Adrian Nazari, CEO and founder of Credit Sesame. “That’s $7,200 of yearly savings. If that money was put toward debt repayment, imagine how much faster that loan would be paid off and how much money would be saved. The opportunities are out there.”

Since launching to private testers in September, Credit Sesame currently manages $250 million in loans and has generated more than $18 million in lifetime savings for its users.

Once registered, the site will continue delivering a free monthly credit score and instant alerts when more optimal savings opportunities become available.

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Political Polling

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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