UK commits over £150 million to power india’s energy ambitions
Green finance is one of the areas where India and the UK are moving into a new and mutually beneficial collaboration.
The joint UK-India Green Growth Equity Fund has today announced its first investment into Ayana Renewable Power as part of an exciting new partnership with CDC Group (the UK government’s development finance institution), EverSource Capital and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund of India. The investment is collectively worth £250 million.
Renewable energy platform Ayana was launched by CDC in January, 2018 to develop utility scale solar and wind generation projects across growth states in India. With a current capacity of 500MW of solar generation and a strong future pipeline of renewable energy opportunities, Ayana is well poised to play an important role in India’s ambition to build 175 GW of renewable energy capacity.
The Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) is a joint UK-India fund, managed by EverSource Capital, specifically designed to promote sustainable energy projects. The two countries have invested over £240 million of anchor capital into the fund, which is expected to raise up to £500 million from institutional investors. This will provide a high-quality conduit for international institutional investment, including from the City of London, into green and renewable infrastructure projects in India.
Sir Dominic Asquith, British High Commissioner to India said:
I am delighted that the GGEF is making its first investment. GGEF is an India-UK fund anchored by our two governments under India’s flagship NIIF umbrella. It was announced by our two Prime Ministers at the Commonwealth Summit last year.
GGEF’s investment in the renewable energy sector promotes the shared prosperity of both governments through climate finance, attracts more private sector investments to create jobs to catalyse India’s green growth.
The UK has long been regarded as a leading global financial centre, with a world leading stock market featuring nearly 80 green bonds listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Over the past two years, Indian issuers have raised over £5.6 billion on the LSE through masala, dollar-denominated and green bonds. These issuances have generated finance for Indian infrastructure projects including in railways, roads and renewable energy.
Further information
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CDC Group celebrated 30 years of investing in India in October 2018. CDC takes a flexible approach and provides capital in all its forms, including equity, debt, mezzanine and guarantees, to meet businesses’ needs and achieve development impact. CDC has net assets of £5.1 billion
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Over £2 billion of masala bonds have been listed on the LSE by Indian companies.
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The UK is the largest contributor to the $5.4 billion Clean Technology Fund, and India is the biggest recipient of CTF funding. With investments totalling around USD 775 million, around USD 224 million comes from the UK. A key focus of CTF investments in India has been supporting the National Solar Mission, including financing for the first wave of solar parks, such as the one at Bhadla in Rajasthan.
Media
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