India Clean Energy Finance (ICEF) invites applications from enterprises and projects in distributed renewable energy (DRE) for its next round of catalytic grant support to accelerate commercialization and mobilize commercial capital.

The first phase of ICEF successfully has mobilized more than 50X capital for each dollar spent in technical assistance to enterprises supported under the program. ICEF is designed to accelerate the adoption of established and nascent DRE technologies by unlocking commercial capital for DRE-based enterprises and projects, and DRE-focused financial intermediaries. The segments in focus are, inter alia, solar rooftop solutions, e-mobility/ solar-powered EV charging, RE-powered cooling solutions, agrivoltaics, productive mini-grids, alternative sustainable fuels, distributed green hydrogen (associated renewable energy facility), energy solutions and energy-as-a-service.

The facility, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, will extend financial advisory support to selected applicants to help them mobilize capital.

Who Can Apply?

ICEF is seeking enterprises that meet the following eligibilitycriteria:

• The applicant must be an entity limited by shares, such as a private or public limited company
• The applicant or, in the case of a project SPV, its sponsor must be a legally registered entity with an operational presence in India and should not be blacklisted by any government or public sector agency.
• The applicant or, in the case of a project SPV, its sponsor should have at least USD 300,000 in the last reported annual revenue.
• The technology underpinning the applicant’s business model should have clear market potential and commercial viability and should have a functional prototype tested in a relevant practical environment.
• The applicant should have a clear commercialization pathway with visible market demand.
• The applicant or, in the case of a project SPV, its sponsor should have a competent leadership team with relevant technical, business, and sectoral expertise and a track record of execution in their respective domains.
• Applicants other than financial intermediaries should have a fundraising plan of at least USD 1 million or above within a year. A DRE-focused financial intermediary as an applicant should have a fundraising plan of at least USD 2 million within a year.
• The applicant must be willing to comply with facility monitoring, evaluation, and reporting requirements.

Key Dates:

• Application Opens:  15 March 2025
• Application Submission Deadline: 14 April 2025
• Award of Grant Announcement: 05 May 2025

What We Offer:

ICEF will provide technical assistance grants of up to USD 150,000 to selected enterprises to enable them to use financial advisory services.

How it works:

1. Submission of completed application along with supporting documents
2. Application screening by the program team
3. Due diligence by the program team, which could include clarificatory discussions with the applicant’s personnel and site or field visits, as considered relevant
4. Case presentation by the program team to the advisory committee
5. Announcement of selected enterprises
6. Enterprises run the request for proposals for financial advisory among empaneled service providers under the program.
7. Contract between CPI, enterprise, and service provider.
8. Milestone-based payments to service providers after vetting of the delivery by the program team and enterprise.

The application form, including the list of documents to be submitted along with it, is appended. A completed application, along with all supporting documents, should be submitted to icef@cpiglobal.org by 14th April 2025.

For any queries or clarifications, please reach out to the program team at icef@cpiglobal.org.