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World Bank to back India's solar power initiative

Associated Press
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Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, right, shakes hand with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, June 30, 2016. The World Bank Group Thursday signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance, consisting of 121 countries led by India, to collaborate on increasing solar energy use around the world, with the goal of mobilizing $1 trillion in investment by 2030. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) (The Associated Press)

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, center, shakes hand with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, right, and Indian Power and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal after signing a deal to boost solar energy globally, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, June 30, 2016. The World Bank Group Thursday signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance, consisting of 121 countries led by India, to collaborate on increasing solar energy use around the world, with the goal of mobilizing $1 trillion in investment by 2030. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) (The Associated Press)

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, center, talks to his colleague after signing a deal to boost solar energy globally, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, June 30, 2016. The World Bank Group Thursday signed an agreement with the International Solar Alliance, consisting of 121 countries led by India, to collaborate on increasing solar energy use around the world, with the goal of mobilizing $1 trillion in investment by 2030. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) (The Associated Press)

The World Bank has signed an agreement with the Indian-led International Solar Alliance to boost solar energy in developing countries by mobilizing $1 trillion in investments by 2030.

It said the agreement, signed Thursday by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Indian Power Minister Piyush Goyal, establishes the World Bank as a financial partner of the alliance.

The alliance was launched by India and France at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris last November and includes about 120 countries that support the promotion of solar energy.

The World Bank said it also plans to provide more than $1 billion to support India's initiatives to expand solar power generation through projects including solar rooftop technology, infrastructure for solar parks and transmission lines for solar-rich states.