Sterlite Power on Monday said it has secured a debt funding of Rs 440 crore (about $58 million) from Tata Cleantech Capital for its Nangalbibra-Bongaigaon Transmission Limited (NBTL) project .
Tata Cleantech claims to be the first private sector climate finance institution in the green banking network.
The fundraise comes two months after Sterlite Power Transmission had bought the NBTL project, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) floated by PFC Consulting Ltd for an undisclosed amount in December last year.
The project involves construction of around 300 circuit kilometres of transmission lines and a greenfield substation with 320 MVA transformation capacity across the north-eastern terrain of Assam and Meghalaya.
Through this SPV acquisition, Sterlite Power said it was looking to execute the inter-state transmission system (ISTS) project, which it had won through tariff-based competitive bidding in October 2021 for Rs 324 crore.
“We are pleased to conclude this deal with Tata Cleantech Capital which is a first-of-its-kind climate finance institution that is working towards climate change mitigation in India.
Sterlite Power is an active proponent of greening the grid, and we are committed to India’s ambitious RE goal of 500 GW by 2030,” said Pratik Agarwal, Managing Director, Sterlite Power.
The Nangalbibra-Bongaigaon project will transmit over 1,000 MW of power from Assam to western parts of Meghalaya, Sterlite Power said.
The project will also help in decongesting the downstream networks in the region, improving the quality and reliability of power flow in North-East India, it added.
“India’s power transmission sector is playing a critical role in the country’s transition to a net-zero carbon future. Our objective at Tata Cleantech Capital is to support and invest in green energy sectors and the long-term financing of this project is a step in that direction,” said Manish Chourasia, Managing Director, Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd.
Sterlite Power, in January 2021, had raised Rs 1,300 crore in debt financing from Germany’s Allianz Global Investors and a subsidiary of an Indian conglomerate, VCCircle had reported.
Sterlite Power’s portfolio includes 27 projects across India and Brazil, which are currently under various stages of development, and also a few that have been sold.
In 2021, the company had completed NER-II project spanning across the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura. The company said it is increasing its focus on integrating renewable energy sources to the transmission grids.
