A $300 million platform created to accelerate the development of renewable power projects in India has been launched as the UK looks to drive climate action.

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s impact investor and development finance institution, used the Global Partnerships Conference, to unveil North Star the first investment made through British Climate Partners (BCP), a £1.1 billion climate finance initiative launched by BII last month as part of its new five-year strategy.

BII said it would commit $150 million, with a further $150 million of private capital provided by the Danish global fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II).

Leslie Maasdorp, the chief executive of British International Investment, said: “At the launch of our new strategy last month, we said that BII would focus on mobilising private capital to address acute development needs and combat the climate emergency. North Star is the first embodiment of that commitment.

“By partnering with CIP, we are crowding in private capital from day one of this new platform and I expect further private investment in North Star over the following years.”

It was also announced today that BCP is expected to mobilise £3.5 billion of private capital over the lifetime of its investments, taking the total of its expected commitments over the period to £4.6 billion. BCP is designed to mobilise large‑scale institutional capital into climate solutions across fast-growing and coal-dependent economies in Asia, including India, as well as the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and other South-East Asian countries.

BII explained although renewable energy tenders have expanded rapidly in India, many developers lack the development capacity and capital required to bring projects through to construction and operation. North Star is specifically designed to address these constraints and accelerate projects to scale, while crowding in additional private capital. India is planning to more than triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, but needs to fill a $160 billion per year funding gap to meet that ambition.

UK minister for development, Baroness Chapman said: “We have heard what our partners have been calling for. They want to work in partnership with the UK. Countries want to have more control, move beyond aid, attract investment, strengthen their own health and education systems, and take charge of their own futures.

“Traditional development finance alone cannot meet that call, indeed it never could. Nor can it respond to the scale of today’s challenges. We need to bring new ideas and a broader coalition of partners to the table.

“The decisions that come out of this conference will benefit everyone: stronger economies, fewer crises, and a more stable and prosperous future that unlocks opportunity.”

Peter Jannik Sjøntoft, Partner in CIP’s Growth Markets Funds, said: “Closing this transaction with British International Investment marks an important milestone in CIP’s continued commitment to India’s renewable energy sector. By establishing a platform alongside BII, we are creating a strong foundation to deploy long‑term capital into scalable, high‑impact renewable investments that contribute meaningfully to India’s decarbonisation and energy security goals.”

North Star will invest across solar, wind and hybrid renewable energy as well as storage projects, which are expected to generate more than 4 million MWh of clean energy annually and avoid about 4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.