Renewable player Ayana gets $390 mn in fresh funding; NIIF to pick up majority stake

With the new funding, Ayana has received equity funding of USD 721 million till date.The additional equity funding includes USD 70 million by the CDC group - British development finance institution, USD 284 million by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund NIIF and USD 36 million from EverSource Capital-managed Green Growth Equity Fund, the domestic renewable energy platform said in a statement.

Ayana Renewable Power has secured USD 390 million (about Rs 2,800 crore) in fresh funding from CDC Group, NIIF and EverSource Capital, the investors said in a joint statement. With the new funding, Ayana has received equity funding of USD 721 million till date.

The additional equity funding includes USD 70 million by the CDC group - British development finance institution, USD 284 million by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and USD 36 million from EverSource Capital-managed Green Growth Equity Fund, the domestic renewable energy platform said in a statement. The proposed transaction envisages the NIIF becoming the majority shareholder in Ayana, it said without disclosing how much the national wealth fund will own in the company.

Ayana was founded by the CDC Group in 2018 to address the challenges of green energy by reducing carbon footprint in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It develops utility-scale renewable solar and wind generation projects across the country to build cost-effective capacity.

To date, Ayana has received equity funding of USD 721 million, which is sufficient to scale up its renewable energy portfolio to over 4 GW over the next two years. The NIIF, CDC and GGEF as shareholders bring complementary strengths to the platform.

Ayana currently has 1.14 GW of solar capacity under various stages of development/operation across multiple states, and a strong pipeline of new projects. The government has set an ambitious target of building 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030. Commenting on the investment, British Acting high commissioner Jan Thompson said the new funding demonstrates Britain's commitment to supporting the clean energy transition and reinforces the shared ambition of England and India to build a greener future.

CDC's Asia head Srini Nagarajan said their commitment to tackle climate emergency was the driving force behind the creation of Ayana in 2018. Two years on we have mobilised significant commercial capital behind the cause and into Ayana, which will now be majority-owned by the NIIF. Sujoy Bose, managing director & chief executive of the NIIF, said the continuing support to Ayana demonstrates our confidence in the company's ability to generate stable risk-adjusted returns for investors.

Dhanpal Jhaveri, chief executive of EverSource Capital -- a 50:50 joint venture between EverStone Capital and Lightsource BP, said this investment corroborates the belief in the promising renewable energy sector in the country. The CDC Group is wholly owned by the British government and invests in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to support economic development and create jobs with net assets of around 5.8 billion pounds. The CDC Group has been investing in the country since 1987.

The NIIF manages over USD 4.3 billion of equity capital commitments across its three funds -- master fund, fund of funds and strategic opportunities fund..