Multilateral lender Asian Development Bank on Wednesday made $30-million equity investment in Hyderabad-based private power company for its clean energy projects.
The pact with NSL group is ADB’s first equity investment in a private sector renewable power generation company in India and its first private partnership in India’s hydropower sector.
The investment agreement between ADB and NSL’s Renewable Power comes in the run up to the funding agency’s 46th annual meeting to be organised in NCR region from May 2-5.
“India will increasingly need renewable energy to drive its development, and the private sector will play a central role in developing the renewable energy sector to help the country achieve green growth,” ADB’s Vice President for Private Sector and Co-financing Operations Lakshmi Venkatachalam said.
ADB’s investment will help NSL reach its target of 1,000 MW of operational renewable energy assets by 2017. The company will use the investment proceeds to partially finance the construction of the 100-megawatt Tidong run-of-river hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh, and the 75-megawatt Chilarewadi wind project in Maharashtra.
ADB plans to increase its investments in the company and also in country's renewable energy space in future.
"We are now a shareholder in NSL Group, we have picked up equity for the first time and the option of increasing the stake is open to us, it would depend on the sector's performance," ADB Deputy Director General (Private Sector Operations Department) Jo Yamagata said.
NSL Renewable Power is the renewable energy vertical of NSL Group. It currently has 185 MW of installed capacity across wind, solar, bio-mass and hydro and has under construction over 200 MW in wind and 150 MW in hydro projects.
The company also has a development pipeline, which will enable it to reach 1,000 MW capacity by 2016.
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