PayU India has procured distributed renewable energy certificates (D-RECs) from high-impact solar projects, which electrify rural banks across the country. 

A company statement reveals that D-RECs are innovative climate finance instruments that accelerate the energy transition, increase local clean electricity supply, boost transparency, and transform corporate green energy procurement. The company has claimed that D-REC will play a pivotal role in rural India, where banking seems a difficult job due to erratic power supplies. 

In an attempt to bring financially excluded rural Indians into the formal banking system, E-Hands Energy, a Chennai-based provider of renewable energy solutions, recently completed a programme providing solar solutions to over 920 rural banks. It ensured the banks remain operational throughout the day despite multiple power cuts. 

Mohit Gopal, COO at PayU India, said: “D-RECs offer an innovative and verifiable platform to accelerate affordable and clean energy access for underserved communities of India. As part of the Prosus’ family of companies, our multi-year partnership with the D-REC Initiative shows our commitment to transition to a greener economy that is not only inclusive but offers a reliable banking experience to rural Indians, bringing more people into the fold of the organised financial services sector.”

Raghuraman Chandrasekaran, founder and CEO of E-Hands Energy, said: “The monetisation of our projects via DRECs are extremely important for us, as we can now accelerate the deployment of solar to more rural sites with the help of DRECs sold to reduce our capital expenditure on setting up new financial inclusion projects in the future.”