Document shows that the Norwegian state fund invested $20 million in India’s SAEL IPO-bound SAEL.

Norfund, the Norwegian state-owned fund, has invested $20 million in India's SAEL Industries Ltd. This brings its total investment up to $130 millions, ahead of SAEL Industries Ltd's planned initial stock offering.

Two sources familiar with this move say that Norfund invested the money through compulsorily convertible preference shares. They will be converted to equity when SAEL is listed in Indian exchanges.

The money will be used to invest in clean energy projects that the Indian company won after bidding.

SAEL’s clean energy portfolio includes 8,3 gigawatts of solar projects, 3.5 GW in manufacturing solar modules and over 165 Megawatts of agriwaste-toenergy capacity. There are 11 biomass power stations across Punjab Rajasthan and Haryana.

The company plans to invest 82 billion rupees in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) for the establishment of a 5 GW integrated solar cell and module manufacturing facility.

Sources said that SAEL was in the process preparing its draft prospectus and has not yet finalised the amount of money it plans to raise.

SAEL's revenue from its biomass and independent-power-production business nearly doubled to 6.87 billion rupees in fiscal 2025 from fiscal 2023.

The company wants to increase its revenue through these businesses by 2027 to 30,94 billion rupees.

Norfund and SAEL failed to respond to an inquiry for comments about the transaction. Sethuraman N. R. and Shreya B. Biswas edited the article.

(source: Reuters)