British International Investment (BII) has made its first investment in the Indian solar manufacturing segment with a $100-million (Rs 870 crore) bet on green energy company ReNew Energy Global Plc.
As part of the deal, the UK-based development finance institution will acquire an unspecified minority stake in ReNew Energy subsidiary ReNew Photovoltaics Pvt Ltd.
BII’s investment will be primarily utilised to grow the company’s manufacturing capacity through the construction of a new 4 GW cell facility in Dholera, Gujarat, the two companies said in a statement.
“Enhancing India's capacity in solar manufacturing will not only boost clean energy generation but also reduce the country’s dependency on imports, promote sustainable industrialisation and create new jobs,” said Shilpa Kumar, MD and Head of India at BII.
Set up in 2021, ReNew Photovoltaics comprises an operational 6.4 GW solar photovoltaic module facility and a 2.5 GW solar cell facility, located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, and Dholera.
“Venturing into manufacturing was a strategic decision aimed at securing our supply chain, particularly as India advances its objective of indigenising the solar supply chain with a supportive regulatory and policy environment,” ReNew founder Sumant Sinha said.
Following its expansion, ReNew’s total manufacturing capacity will be approximately 6.4 GW of modules and 6.4 GW of cells, the company said. It further said that the expansion is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and boost domestic production of high-efficiency solar components, reducing India’s reliance on imports.
With an annual output of 4.0 to 4.5 GW of modules, ReNew Photovoltaics’ facilities will primarily serve ReNew Energy’s captive consumption, with surplus capacity targeted for third-party sales. To date, the facilities have supplied 900 MW to third parties along with additional orders of approximately 1.5 GW, ReNew said. ReNew counts the state-owned NTPC Ltd and Shakti Pumps among its customers.
The development comes months after ReNew and its key investors proposed in December to delist the company from the US stock market. The key investors are Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co PJSC (which operates as Masdar).
This announcement came barely a couple of weeks after VCCircle first reported that CPPIB, ReNew’s single biggest shareholder, was considering taking the company private in the US and then listing it in India.
