The largest corporate deal in India’s renewable energy sector has been signed.
Tata Power, a part of the $109-billion Tata Group, will buy Welspun Renewables Energy, a renewable energy firm based in Mumbai, the company said (pdf) on June 12. The exact value of the deal isn’t disclosed but media reports have pegged it at anywhere between Rs6,000 crore ($895 million) and Rs10,000 crore ($1.5 billion).
This deal is the “largest transaction in the renewables space in India,” the statement said.
The new buy will take Tata Power’s renewable energy capacity to 2.3 GW (from 1.2 GW currently), making it the largest firm in the renewable power sector in India, the company said in a statement. Tata Power is currently India’s biggest integrated power firm and has a total capacity of 9.2 GW. It is engaged in power generation and transmission—and distribution to some two million customers.
Welspun Renewables is a part of the $3-billion Welspun Group that has interests in engineering, textiles, and energy, among others. The firm builds renewable power projects.
Private sector interest in renewable energy bodes well for India as it looks to increase its power generation from renewables—from the current 12% to 40% by 2030. India is trying to lower its reliance on cheap but polluting coal.