Sri Lanka, Oct. 5 -- The government last week signed agreements securing US$ 22.44 million in grants from the European Union and Japan alongside a US$ 35 million concessional loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a rooftop solar and grid modernisation project that introduces virtual net metering to the country for the first time, the Finance Ministry said.

The grants, comprising Euro 15.4 million (US$ 16.94 million) from the EU and US$ 5.5 million from the Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism, are equivalent to 64 percent of the loan and meet nearly 28 percent of the US$ 80.5 million project cost. Both are administered by the ADB, which approved the package in June.

The loan carries an interest rate of 2 percent a year...