New Delhi, May 6 (PTI) ReNew Energy Global Plc on Tuesday announced that it has secured an investment of Rs 870 crore (around USD 100 million) from British International Investment (BII), to accelerate growth of its solar manufacturing business in India.
The investment will be made in ReNew Photovoltaics Private Limited (ReNew Photovoltaics), the company's dedicated solar manufacturing subsidiary in India, a statement said.
According to the statement, ReNew Energy Global Plc (ReNew) has secured an Rs 8,700 million (around USD 100 million) investment from BII, the UK's development finance institution and impact investor, to accelerate the growth of its solar manufacturing business in India.
This marks BII's first-ever investment in solar manufacturing in India and underscores its commitment to building a resilient, self-reliant renewable energy supply chain in one of the world's fastest-growing clean energy markets.
The investment will see BII acquire a minority stake in ReNew Photovoltaics.
The transaction is subject to customary approvals from lenders and regulatory authorities.
Established in 2021, ReNew Photovoltaics comprises an operational 6.4 GW solar PV module facility and a 2.5 GW solar cell facility, located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, and Dholera, Gujarat.
BII's investment will be primarily utilised to grow the business and expand the company's manufacturing capacity through the construction of a new 4 GW TOPCon cell facility in Dholera, Gujarat. Post-expansion, ReNew's total manufacturing capacity will be approximately 6.4 GW of modules and 6.4 GW of cells.
The expansion is expected to create more than 2,000 new jobs and boost domestic production of high-efficiency solar components, reducing India's reliance on imports and aligning with the Government of India's 500 GW renewable energy capacity target by 2030 as well as the Make in India initiative.
With an annual output of 4.0-4.5 GW of modules, ReNew Photovoltaics' facilities will primarily serve ReNew's internal consumption, with surplus capacity targeted for third-party sales.
To date, the facilities have supplied 900 MW to third parties along with additional orders of approximately 1.5 GW, reflecting strong market traction.
Sumant Sinha, Founder, Chairman & CEO of ReNew, said in the statement, "This partnership underscores our commitment to delivering high-quality, top-tier products while making strategic investments that drive sustainable growth and create long-term shareholder value."
"Venturing into manufacturing was a strategic decision aimed at securing our supply chain, particularly as India advances its objective of indigenising the solar supply chain with a supportive regulatory and policy environment," Sinha added.
In an interaction with PTI, Sinha said that the company currently has 11.5 GW of commissioned wind and solar capacity, which the company will be looking to expand quite substantially.
"Currently, we have a pipeline of a total of about 28 GW of projects that we have won in various bids and so on. PPAs (power purchasing agreements) have been signed for a reasonable portion of that. So a lot of that we will be executing...batteries and wind and solar plants over the next four or five years, I guess we've been getting most of this executed," he said.
On talks with other players to get more capital, he said, "...we are always in discussions with various investors, because ours is a very capital-intensive sector. So, for our manufacturing as well as IPP (independent power producer) side, we have to keep raising capital, so we are in constant dialogue with investors."
Sally Taylor, Minister Counsellor, Climate, Science and Tech at British High Commission, said in the statement, "This investment in ReNew's solar manufacturing arm is a positive development that will diversify the supply of panels and further build the strong partnership between the UK and India on clean energy.
Shilpa Kumar, MD and Head of India at BII, said, "This investment is crucial for building and strengthening the renewable energy supply chain in India."