The Indian Government is seeking a loan worth $500 million (£305m) from the World Bank to kick-start the construction of what is claimed will be the largest solar power plant in the world.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has submitted a proposal for the cash to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) which will forward the request to the Washington-based World Bank.

The loan would finance the first 750MW of the 4GW project which is expected to cost around $1 billion (£0.6bn) in total.

A group of six state-owned companies recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the solar farm which will be built in the north western state of Rajasthan.