UK-India fund commits $200m to renewables developer Ayana

Fund backed by both governments commits $200 million to the developer, which was itself established by the U.K. government a year ago. Ayana – which boasts a 500 MW solar portfolio – recently enjoyed a $330 million cash boost from public-private joint venture EverSource Capital.

March 1, 2019 Preeti Verma Lal

The latest news is another welcome boost for Ayana Renewable Power.

Image: geralt/Pixabay

To fuel India’s renewable energy ambition, the U.K.-India Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) has invested $200 million (Rs1,419 crore) into Ayana Renewable Power.

Ayana was set up in January 2018 by the U.K. government’s Commonwealth development finance organization CDC Group to develop renewable energy projects in India, and yesterday’s move is the GGEF’s first investment into the developer. The GGEF is jointly funded by U.K. and Indian public money.

The announcement is another boost for the project developer, coming soon after EverSource Capital – a joint venture set up by Singapore private equity fund Everstone Capital, Lightsource BP and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund of India (NIIF), and which manages the GGEF – acquired a significant minority stake in Ayana. Under the terms of that deal, the JV partners will invest a total $330 million and expect to raise up to $670 million more from institutional investors.

500 MW solar portfolio

“I am delighted that the GGEF is making its first investment,” said Dominic Asquith, U.K. high commissioner to India. “[The] GGEF is an India-U.K. fund anchored by our two governments under India’s flagship NIIF umbrella, which was announced by our two prime ministers at the Commonwealth summit last year. [The] GGEF’s investment in the renewable energy sector promotes the shared prosperity of both governments through climate finance [and] attracts more private sector investments to create jobs to catalyze India’s green growth.”

According to the Ayana website, the developer has a established 500 MW of solar generation capacity and wants to add at least 2 GW of renewable power by 2022. In India, the company started with a 250 MW project in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.

Founded in 1948, CDC Group was the world’s first development finance institution and has been investing in India for 31 years. Since making its first Indian investment in 1988, CDC has worked with entrepreneurs and investors in the country to build a $1.7 billion portfolio of more than 325 investments.

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