Serentica, a KKR-backed company, may raise as much as $8 billion for India's green energy expansion

A top executive at the Indian company Serentica Renewables said that it plans to raise between $8 billion and $6 billion in the next five year to fund acquisitions and projects, as well as to double its clean energy production capacity.

Pratik Agarwal said that Serentica is looking to spend $10 billion to 11 billion dollars to increase its clean energy portfolio by 17 gigawatts by 2029/30.

The company wants to buy projects that are currently operating or under construction.

There are currently 2 GW installed of solar and wind power and another 2 GW is due to be put into service within the next 10 month.

Agarwal stated that the first phase of planned investment is about $3 billion and the second phase is $2 billion. The rest is still under discussion.

He said that the acquisitions were "purely opportunistic" and based on value. The company was evaluating the projects from the 3 GW-5 GW of clean-energy capacity for sale in India.

India's goal to double its non-fossil based power capacity by 2030 to 500 GW has sparked a boom in investment.

Agarwal stated that Resonia, a company created by the dissolution of Sterlite Power like Serentica, plans to invest $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion per year in India's rapidly growing transmission sector.

Resonia, backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, focuses on the establishment of power transmission infrastructure.

Resonia's goal is to secure between $2 and $3 billion in projects per year, as India will be awarding nearly $14 to $16 billion in transmission projects within the next few years.

The country must expand its transmission network rapidly to be able transmit all of the new renewable energy project. (Reporting and editing by Sethuraman N; Sonali Paul).

(source: Reuters)