Solar photovoltaic cell and module manufacturer Premier Energies said it has raised Rs 200 crore ($27 million) in private equity investment from GEF Capital Partners.
Premier said it will invest Rs 1,200 crore over two years to raise manufacturing capacity.
The firm, which will also expand its new facility at E-City Hyderabad, is a supplier for brands such as Panasonic and Luminous.
The Hyderabad-based company said it is the second-largest integrated solar photovoltaic cell and module manufacturer in India which completed 25 years of operations in 2020. It provides solar power solutions to organisations across India and 30 countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
“We are extremely upbeat about the progressive policy changes in this sector,” Chiranjeev Saluja, founder and managing director, said.
Centrum Capital was the exclusive advisor to Premier on this transaction.
In May, International Finance Corporation (IFC) committed an equity investment of $15 million (Rs 109 crore) in GEF Capital.
GEF Capital was spun out of US-based Global Environment Fund Capital Advisors in 2018, as an investment manager to develop Global Environment Fund’s middle-market and growth equity investment programmes in North America, South Asia, and Latin America.
The solar cell manufacturing sector has lately attracted attention from investors mainly due to government initiatives.
In August, Ambri Inc secured $144 million from a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, Paulson & Co Inc, and Ambri's largest shareholder Bill Gates.
In May, KKR backed renewable energy platform Virescent Infrastructure acquired the 76 megawatts (MW) India solar asset portfolio of Singapore-based Sindicatum Renewable Energy Company Pte Ltd.
Also this year, KKR closed its maiden Asian infrastructure fund hitting the hard cap at $3.9 billion (Rs 28,646 crore). The fund has a broad mandate to invest across emerging and developed countries in the Asia-Pacific in segments including renewables.
In March, Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus concluded the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Indian solar energy assets of French utility Engie.
In December 2020, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), the country’s quasi-sovereign fund, led a $390 million funding round in Ayana Renewable Power.
