New Delhi, Nov. 3 -- Tata Capital Limited, the flagship financial services arm of Tata Group, has partnered with United Nations' climate finance initiative Green Climate Fund (GCF) to provide capital to early-stage climate-tech start-ups across India.

VCCircle was the first to report that Tata Capital was launching such a fund.

GCF, which provides funding for low-emission and climate-resilient projects globally, will provide a loan of $15.85 million (around Rs 141 crore) to Tata Capital, along with an additional $3 million (around Rs 27 crore) grant, as a part of its Beacon India Programme. Further, Tata Capital will contribute $47.6 million (around Rs 423 crore) of its own funds for the initiative.

The Beacon India aims to establish a robust ecosystem for climate-tech innovation by incubating 100 early-stage climate technology ventures in the country. According to GCF's website, about 50 of these innovation ventures will be selected for full-scale innovation development, and about 10-15 among them will receive seed funding for prototypes, market promotion, and venture launch.

The programme will be implemented in collaboration with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and TREC-STEP, an innovation and entrepreneurship development organisation.

Overall, Beacon India project is expected to have a size of $94 million, including co-financing in equity, loan and in-kind.

"Tata Capital has always been committed to green initiative for a sustainable future. Our association with Green Climate Fund to strengthen India's climate innovation network is another step in that direction," said Rajiv Sabharwal, Managing Director & CEO, Tata Capital Limited.

Through this programme, Tata Capital aims to help emerging entrepreneurs scale up their green technologies and make a measurable difference to people and the planet, Sabharwal added.

Last year, in July, SIDBI said South Korea based GCF will invest in the Indian state-run organisation programme to support micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to support their adoption of low-emission and climate-resilient technologies. Previously, the fund invested about $24.5 million in Indian venture capital firm Avaana Capital's Climate and Sustainability fund in March this year.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.