Ayana Renewable Gets $390 Million to Light Up Its Renewable Energy Portfolio; NIIF to Pick Majority Stake

Bangalore-based Ayana Renewable received an additional funding worth $390 million from the CDC, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF).

CDC Group, NIIF and EverSource Capital managed GGEF invested equity funding of $70 million, $284 million and $36 million respectively in the 2017-founded startup, a leading Indian renewable energy platform, a statement said.

With the proposed transaction, it’s envisaged that NIIF will become the majority shareholder in Ayana, however the commitment is subject to final approval processes. With the new funding, Ayana has received total equity funding of $721 million till date.
Ayana was founded by the CDC Group to address the challenges of green energy by reducing carbon footprint in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In August this year, Ayana acquired two solar projects of FirstSolar with a capacity of 40 MW, but the terms and conditions of the transactions were undisclosed.

Ayana currently has 1.14 GW of solar generation capacity under various stages of development or operation across multiple Indian states, and a strong future pipeline of renewable energy opportunities, the statement said.

According to the statement, British Acting High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson said, “Today’s announcement underlines the importance of private investment in catalyzing green growth. I’m delighted this investment will help Ayana scale up its green energy capacity and support India’s ambition to build 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. This demonstrates our commitment to supporting the clean energy transition and reinforces the shared ambition of the UK and India to build a greener future.”

CDC’s Head of Asia Srini Nagarajan in the statement said, “CDC’s commitment to tackling the climate emergency was the driving force behind the creation of Ayana in 2018. Two years on and I'm delighted that we have mobilised significant commercial capital behind the cause and into Ayana.”

“NIIF would now be the largest shareholder of a company that is delivering affordable and accessible renewable energy across India - meeting the challenge of climate change and delivering prosperity within a new, green economy. CDC's additional capital also reiterates the UK's commitment to investing in India and the strong partnership between our countries,” Nagarajan said.

Sujoy Bose, Managing Director and CEO, NIIF, said that NIIF's continuing support to Ayana demonstrates our belief in the large growth potential of the Indian renewable energy sector and our confidence in Ayana's ability to generate stable risk-adjusted returns for our investors. “With committed like-minded shareholders and a strong management team, we are confident that Ayana will become a leading player in this space, over the next few years,” he said, according to the statement.

Dhanpal Jhaveri, CEO, EverSource Capital, said in the statement that “The infusion of more capital into our utility-scale platform Ayana, corroborates the belief in India's promising renewable energy sector. This investment will strengthen our commitment to ensure the transition to zero carbon power generation, creation of job opportunities and accessibility of clean energy across India.