NDB Bank’s contribution for renewable energy gets highlighted

NDB Bank’s Project Finance Unit was recognised as the Renewable Energy (RE) Financier of the Year at the PV Invest Tech Sri Lanka 2021 and Sri Lanka Annual Solar Awards 2021 recently held at Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo. The bank’s Vice President – Project Finance and Corporate Credit Control Ishani Palliyaguru also won the Women Leadership & Business Excellence Award at the ceremony.

The event and awards ceremony was organised by EQ Magazine of India, which is a leading magazine focusing on Solar PV, in the Asian region. This award was received at a time when NDB bank has recognised the renewable energy sector as one of bank’s focused industries in view of its alignment towards fostering sustainability with a greener economy. NDB wishes to maintain its strong support for the renewable energy sector, which will assist fulfilment of GoSL’s aspiration to reach 70% of the country’s electricity requirement through renewable energy by 2030. 

NDB Bank has been instrumental in funding nearly 100 Renewable Energy Projects under Direct Lending by the bank’s Project Finance Unit, in an effort to make our planet greener and safer. The NDB Project Finance Unit has so far funded a total of 50 solar energy projects, 36 mini hydro projects, nine wind projects and three bio mass projects all amounting to a capacity in excess of 250 megawatts. Further, NDB is also the 1st bank in Sri Lanka to finance a commercial scale bio mass project and is one of four banks to finance the 1st wind power project in Sri Lanka and the 1st bank to finance an overseas project (Mini Hydro) on its own merits. Meanwhile, the bank has also financed the country’s largest privately owned wind power towers of 2.5 Mw each located in the Jaffna Peninsula, generating clean energy to the national grid. 

NDB as an organisation with its roots in development banking, together with its deep industry insights, expertise and long-standing customer relationships has been able to build a strong reputation and excellence in project and infrastructure financing. The understanding of the workings of different industries and overseas markets as well as a holistic value proposition, which includes the provision of advisory services, has made NDB’s Project Finance (PF) Unit, a preferred financial partner for companies seeking long-term financing both locally and overseas. 

The PF Unit of NDB possesses the competence to assist its corporate clients in complex transactions and propel them towards the next phase of development in their businesses. With over four decades of project financing experience and in-house engineering and legal expertise, NDB not only plays a role of financial partner in these projects, but acts as a project partner where advice on project management and legal aspects are also made available to the promoters. 

The package of services offered by NDB not only ensures the successful implementation of the projects financed but also helps ascertain satisfactory returns to both the promoters as well as the bank thus creating a win-win solution for both parties. NDB is also proud to have financed a 5 MW solar project with novel technology ensuring the optimal utilisation of two abundant natural resources, namely land and sunlight. NDB Bank which was crowned as “Sri Lanka’s Best Bank 2021” by the prestigious Global Finance Magazine of USA, and recognised as “The Bank of the Year Sri Lanka”, by The Banker Magazine UK, is the fourth largest listed bank in Sri Lanka and the parent company of the NDB Group. The only financial services conglomerate in Sri Lanka, NDB Group is uniquely positioned towards assisting the growth and development of the Sri Lankan financial market to provide its customers seamless access to the product and service offerings of all its group companies.