Renewable energy platform Ayana on Thursday got additional funding worth USD 390 million from the CDC, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF).
CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, NIIF and EverSource Capital managed GGEF announced additional equity funding of USD 70 million, USD 284 million and USD 36 million respectively in Ayana Renewable Power (Ayana), a leading Indian renewable energy platform, a statement said.
The proposed transaction envisages NIIF to become the majority shareholder in Ayana. The commitment is subject to final approval processes.
Reducing global carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 is essential to limit the impact of climate change. Building this green energy capacity is vital to India’s long-term economic development, decarbonise the energy mix away from coal and support the creation of jobs, the statement said.
Founded in 2018 by the CDC Group, Ayana was launched to address these challenges in alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it said.
The platform develops utility-scale renewable power solar and wind generation projects across India to build cost-effective capacity.
To date, Ayana has received equity funding of USD 721 million, sufficient to scale up its renewable energy portfolio to over 4GW over the next two years, the statement said.
The NIIF, CDC and GGEF as shareholders bring complementary strengths to the platform that has been built with a strong focus on governance and compliance, it said.
Ayana currently has 1.14 GW of solar generation capacity under various stages of development or operation across multiple Indian states, and a strong future pipeline of renewable energy opportunities, the statement said.
With a management team that has a track record of successful execution of renewable energy projects, it is well poised to play an important role in India’s ambition to build 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030, it said.
According to the statement, British Acting High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson said, “Today’s announcement underlines the importance of private investment in catalysing green growth. I’m delighted this investment will help Ayana scale up its green energy capacity and support India’s ambition to build 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. This demonstrates our commitment to supporting the clean energy transition and reinforces the shared ambition of the UK and India to build a greener future.”
CDC’s Head of Asia Srini Nagarajan in the statement said, “CDC’s commitment to tackling the climate emergency was the driving force behind the creation of Ayana in 2018. Two years on and I’m delighted that we have mobilised significant commercial capital behind the cause and into Ayana.”
“NIIF would now be the largest shareholder of a company that is delivering affordable and accessible renewable energy across India meeting the challenge of climate change and delivering prosperity within a new, green economy. CDC’s additional capital also reiterates the UK’s commitment to investing in India and the strong partnership between our countries,” Nagarajan said.
Sujoy Bose, managing director and CEO, NIIF, said that NIIF’s continuing support to Ayana demonstrates our belief in the large growth potential of the Indian renewable energy sector and our confidence in Ayana’s ability to generate stable risk-adjusted returns for our investors.
“With committed like-minded shareholders and a strong management team, we are confident that Ayana will become a leading player in this space, over the next few years,” he said, according to the statement.
Dhanpal Jhaveri, CEO, EverSource Capital, said in the statement that “the infusion of more capital into our utility-scale platform Ayana, corroborates the belief in India’s promising renewable energy sector.”
“This investment will strengthen our commitment to ensure the transition to zero carbon power generation, creation of job opportunities and accessibility of clean energy across India,” Jhaveri said.