With reference to the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA), which of the following statements is/are correct? 1) It is a Public Limited Government Company. 2) It is a Non-Banking Financial Company. Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Both statements are correct, so the answer is C. IREDA was set up in 1987 as a company under the Companies Act, not as a statutory corporation like LIC or SBI. It is a public limited government company under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

• Statement 1 is correct. It is a Government company in which the Central Government holds the majority stake, and it is public limited because it is not a private company.
• Statement 2 is correct. It lends to renewable energy projects and is regulated by the RBI as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC). It cannot accept demand deposits or issue cheques, which is what separates it from a bank.

The core concept is the difference between legal form (company, statutory body, bank) and function (financing). Mains often asks about financing gaps in renewable energy, and IREDA is the central example of a specialised green financing institution.

Since 2015, IREDA has been listed on the stock exchanges (IPO in late 2023), but it remains a government-controlled public limited company.

Trap: Students who assume a lending government body must be a bank, or a statutory body, often mark D or A. Check the legal form before you decide.