IRFC signed a Rs 4,200 crore term loan deal with Damodar Valley Corporation on 28 September to fund clean energy projects.

The agreement was signed in New Delhi. Indian Railway Finance Corporation, or IRFC, is a Navratna central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, while DVC is a central government power utility.

In plain terms, DVC will borrow the money and use it to add clean power capacity in Jharkhand and West Bengal. These are DVC’s own projects, and IRFC only provides the money. A term loan is simply a loan repaid on a fixed schedule.

The money will go into four kinds of projects: floating solar plants, ground-mounted solar plants, rooftop solar and battery energy storage systems. That last one is a large bank of batteries that holds electricity for later use.

Floating solar means panels that sit on the surface of water. DVC will build on what it already owns. IRFC’s statement says its land, reservoirs and power transmission network will support the new plants.

Senior officials from both sides attended the signing. IRFC was represented by Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Kumar Dubey, while DVC’s Member (Finance), Manish Kumar, led its side.

There is a railway angle too, and it comes from the Railways’ own climate goal. Indian Railways has set a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Dubey said renewable energy now sits at the core of that journey, and that this loan extends IRFC’s long-term lending to clean energy infrastructure.

For IRFC, the deal is another step in widening its business beyond trains. It has traditionally lent for railway needs, but this loan takes it into solar power and energy storage through a government utility, while still tying back to the railway ecosystem.

IRFC describes this as a measured push into infrastructure that stays linked to railways. The interest rate and repayment period were not part of the details released.

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