In 2022, at the peak of a career that had taken her to MD and CEO roles at major financial firms, Rajashree Nambiar left it all behind. Not for a better-paying job, not for a board seat, but to create something India had never seen: a lender that gives loans for one reason only — to protect the planet. 

The question people kept asking her was some version of: why would you do that? The answer, she has said, was hiding in plain sight.

Spotting the gap no one was filling

India had set ambitious climate goals: 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, faster EV adoption, rooftop solar through flagship schemes. But on the ground, the financing was missing. 

A household wanting to install solar panels or buy an electric two-wheeler hit the same obstacle: traditional banks either lacked the right products, didn’t understand green asset underwriting, or weren’t interested in small ticket sizes. 

The Reserve Bank of India estimated that the country would need Rs 85.6 trillion in climate-aligned investment by 2030. But almost none of it was reaching the last mile.

So, in 2022, Rajshree co-founded ‘Ecofy’ alongside Govind Sankaranarayanan, a 27-year veteran of Tata Capital, with a single mandate: loans only for green assets. No personal loans, no home loans, no conventional vehicle finance — only electric........

© The Better India