Shriram Housing Finance Limited (SHFL), a leading affordable housing finance company, having in over 130 branches in India with 65,000 customers and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank, today announced a partnership to launch an affordable green housing lending product for self-constructed homes in India
The project will deploy IFC’s Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiency (EDGE) certification tool for the affordable self-construction segment customers and impact monitoring tool (CAFI) for reporting of green affordable housing. It will also provide training 7 capacity building for SHFL teams on the principles & applications of the EDGE software, standards and certification system.
Training will help SHFL to analyse green components in built units for green certification and to promote the development of green self-made houses among its potential consumers.
The EDGE certification will assist SHFL in identifying homes that concentrate on lowering their environmental footprint with at least 20% savings in energy, water, and embodied energy materials. SHFL is dedicated to the sustainable housing movement. Not just that, but, the homeowners will be guided to build their properties in an environment friendly manner with the help of IFC’s support.
Ravi Subramanian, Managing Director & CEO, SHFL commented on the partnership with IFC and said,” Who better than to partner with for our affordable green homes financing initiative than the best, IFC. At Shriram Housing Finance, we are committed to the construction of affordable green homes. We believe that with the rising cost of living, energy-efficient homes are the way forward. Through the partnership with IFC, we intend to build the foundation for an eventual self-sustaining housing finance ecosystem for climate-smart, affordable homes.”
Wendy Werner, India Country Head at IFC also expressed his thoughts on the partnership with SHFL and said, “Together with a leading housing finance player, we will drive the accelerated adoption of green building designs that cut utility costs, raise living standards, and fulfill India’s commitments to the Paris Agreement. This initiative aims to offer vital training and create a conducive business environment for scaling affordable green housing nationwide that, by our estimate, has a $1.4 trillion financing opportunity by 2030.”
The European Union (EU) is funding this collaboration through the ACSIIS programme, which supports climate-smart, sustainable infrastructure developments in India. ACSIIS stands for Accelerating Climate-Smart and Inclusive Infrastructure in South Asia.
Here are some words highlighted by Seppo Nurmi, Charged Affaires Delegation of the European Union to India,“The UN estimates that 70% of the global population will be living in cities by 2050, with many urban infrastructures still to be developed. This offers a unique chance for India to adopt circular economy principles in affordable green housing to tackle the housing shortage, which will surely give a boost to other developers to venture in this direction.”
