On 5 April, ecbi Director Benito Müller provided a context setting presentation during a Consultation Meeting on “Enhancing Energy Efficiency in MSMEs with performance-based payments through a pilot Carbon Fund and Auction Facility”. The event, which took place in New Delhi, India, sought to help refine the concept of the Facility and enhance understanding of the scope of technical research needed to design it. Stakeholders with experience in financing, technology implementation, and capacity building in the MSME sector provided input and guidance on the proposal's approach. The MSME sector accounts for more than 42% of India’s exports, highlighting its importance in sustaining the country's economic growth.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) in consultation with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Oxford Climate Policy prepared a concept note on the issue and a proposal for the Facility has been submitted to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) under Simplified Approval Process (SAP). The aim is to create an enabling environment and provide technical assistance and financial incentives to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient measures by Indian MSMEs through a Carbon Fund and Auction Facility. This would be done by building stakeholder capacity and rewarding energy efficiency enhancements through performance-based payments, thereby reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions in few critical Indian MSME clusters. 

For more on this programme proposal, see section IV in History of Enhanced Direct Access: Second updated edition.