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World Bank and ADB launches ‘WePOWER India’ to increase women workforce in energy sector, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The WePOWER India Partnership Forum, held through a virtual platform on November 9, 2021, launched the efforts to scale up the South Asia Women in Power Sector Professional Network (WePOWER) in India.

This important initiative was attended by 168 key energy sector stakeholders. The event was organized by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in association with the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF).

India is significantly investing in clean energy, grid modernization, and digitalisation of its utilities. Consequently, job profiles in the Indian energy sector are evolving with more emphasis on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and renewable energy solutions. There is a growing demand for skilled human resources to fill these new green jobs. Women can help to fill this skills gap required for the energy transition. However, the participation of women in the energy sector remains very low. To address this, the energy sector must attract, develop and retain talented women professionals.

The World Bank is committed to promoting gender equality in the Indian electricity sector. Towards this goal, the World Bank, in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank, launched the WePOWER in February 2019. WePOWER is a network of 28 energy sector utilities and organizations committed to implementing systematic and incremental gender activities to support workforce participation of women in energy projects and utilities, and promote normative change for women and girls in Science Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.

The launch ceremony was preceded over by the Vishal Kapoor, Joint Secretary – Distribution, Ministry of Power, Govt of India; Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank; and Reji Kumar Pillai, President, India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF); Among other dignitaries were Guangzhe Chen, Regional Director for Infrastructure, South Asia, World Bank; Takeo Konishi, Country Director, ADB; and Reena Suri, Executive Director, ISGF.

Vishal Kapoor, Joint Secretary – Distribution, Ministry of Power, Govt of India mentioned that the Ministry of Power recognises that “Women will be needed to fill the increasing talent demand in the power sector, and their participation in technical and professional roles can contribute greatly to the sector’s effectiveness” and “Indian power sector has made progresses in terms of diversifying the work place and increasing women’s participations, including in leadership positions.”

He added, “In a survey of 28 Indian DISCOMs it was found that 4/5th of them have at least one female at top positions. This represents the growth of women’s participation in power sector”

A panel discussion on Expanding Job Opportunities in India’s Clean Energy Transition’ was moderated by Simon J Stolp, Practice Manager, South Asia Energy, World Bank, with eminent panelists from the Indian power sector such as Dr Tripta Thakur, Director General, National Power Training Institute; Sanjay Banga, President, The Tata Power Company Limited; Dr Praveen Saxena, Chief Executive Officer, Skill Council for Green Jobs; Gargi Chatterjea, Executive Director, CESC Limited; and Dr Rashi Gupta, Founder & Managing Director, Vision Mechatronics Pvt. Ltd; The panel of eminent speakers shared their views on how a diverse talent pool can be mobilized to accelerate India’s clean energy transition.

Pradeep Perera, Officer-in-Charge, Energy Division, South Asia Regional Department provided the key takeaways and concluding remarks.

Tripta Thakur, Director General, NPTI said that the government and NPTI recognises the need to bring more skilled women into the power sector, and NPTI is working with various stakeholders on developing training modules best suited to achieve this goal.

Rashi Gupta, Founder & Managing Director, Vision Mechatronics Pvt. Ltd mentioned that “Not only Electricity but Human Energy needs to capitalised for women empowerment and transformation”.

Overall, the stakeholders agreed that initiatives like WePOWER are important to attracting and retaining more women in the energy sector. The initiative received a lot of appreciation, positive feedback, and interest from the participating energy sector professionals. In the coming months, WePOWER will host in-depth meetings with prominent stakeholders from the sector to take forward the agenda of increasing women’s participation in the power sector.

This story is provided by PRNewswire. will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)



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ADB, India sign USD 100 million loan for agribusiness development in Maharashtra, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on Wednesday signed a USD 100 million loan to promote the agribusiness network to boost farm incomes and reduce food losses in the state of Maharashtra.

Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance signed for the Government of India, the agreement for the Maharashtra Agribusiness Network (MAGNET) Project, while Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission signed for ADB.

After the signing of the loan agreement, Mishra stated that the project supports agribusiness development in Maharashtra with holistic support to on-farm improvement in productivity, up-gradation of post-harvest facilities and establishing efficient marketing structures to benefit horticulture producers.

“The project will help small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra improve their post-harvest and marketing capacity, reduce food losses, and increase incomes through access to finance, capacity building, and horticulture value chain infrastructure development,” said Konishi.

“The project interventions also align with ADB’s ongoing support to rural sector transformation in the state through mutually complementary projects for improving irrigation efficiency through rural electrification and for enhancing rural connectivity,” he added.

Though Maharashtra produces 11 per cent and 6 per cent of India’s fruit and vegetable production, respectively, and accounts for about 8 per cent of the country’s floriculture exports, most smallholder farmers lack the capital to scale up and do not have direct access to emerging high-value markets. The ADB loan will help provide financing opportunities for farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and value chain operators (VCOs) through matching grants and financial intermediation loans to support 300 subprojects.

The project will upgrade 16 existing post-harvest facilities and construct three new ones to provide individual farmers and FPOs clean, accessible, and sustainable crop storage and processing facilities. It will also build the capacity of FPOs and VCOs on value chain acceleration and post-harvest handling and management, especially those owned and led by women. The project is expected to benefit 200,000 farmers.

ADB will provide a $500,000 technical assistance (TA) grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund and USD 2 million from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction on a grant basis to improve market linkages for FPOs. The TA will establish crop-based centers of excellence networks, promote innovative technologies in agribusiness and agriculture value chains, and support capacity building, including the asset and financial management capabilities of the MAGNET Society and the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members–49 from the region. (ANI)



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BIS develops fund to channel c.bank reserves to Asia green bonds, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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TOKYO, – The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said on Thursday it had developed an Asian Green Bond Fund to channel global central bank reserves to green projects in the Asia Pacific region.

The fund will provide a pipeline for central banks to invest in bonds issued by sovereigns and corporates that comply with strict international green standards, the BIS said in a statement.

“The fund will work closely with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other development financial institutions as well as other issuers,” the statement said.

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ADB clears $150 million loan for urban poor housing project in Tamil Nadu

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Multilateral funding agency Asian Development Bank has approved a $150 million (about ₹1,095 crore) loan for a sustainable housing project for the urban poor in Tamil Nadu.

The loan to provide access to inclusive, resilient, and sustainable housing for the urban poor in Tamil Nadu was approved on September 3, 2021, ADB said in a release on Monday.

The Manila-headquartered funding agency said Tamil Nadu is vital to India’s economic growth, contributing 8.54 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Economic opportunities have increased rural–urban migration in the state, which already has one of the highest urbanisation rates in India.

“Tamil Nadu’s housing shortfall accounts for 6.66 per cent of the national deficit, and when mapped against income levels, low-income households bear most of the shortage,” said ADB Principal Safeguards Specialist for South Asia Ricardo Carlos Barba.

The aim is to provide vulnerable and disadvantaged households access to inclusive, safe, and affordable housing infrastructure and services, Barba said.

Tamil Nadu has a population of more than 72 million (7.2 crore), nearly half of which are living in urban areas.

The rapid urbanisation and growth in the urban population will require adequate urban infrastructure and services, including housing, ADB said.

The project

With this $150 million loan, through the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, the project will construct housing units in nine different locations and relocate about 6,000 households vulnerable to natural hazards to safer locations.

It will also help Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Town and Country Planning develop regional plans to map the State’s economic and infrastructure development including affordable housing, environmental protection, disaster risk management, and gender, ADB said.

A portion of ADB’s assistance will be invested by the State government as equity into the Tamil Nadu Shelter Fund to catalyse private sector financing and support investments mainly in industrial housing and working women’s hostels for low-income and migrant workers.

In addition, ADB will provide a $1.5 million (nearly ₹10.95 crore) technical assistance (TA) grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund to support the capacity building of government agencies responsible for delivering affordable housing and regional planning in the state.

The TA will document successful approaches to affordable housing delivery, including the graduation programme for vulnerable relocated beneficiaries, that can be adopted in other cities and countries, it said.

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