KKR Plans $400 Million In Indian Corporate Renewable Energy Platform

Private equity investment firm KKR has announced plans to acquire a stake in a budding renewable energy platform in India. 

The firm will reportedly invest $400 million in Serentica Renewable. The renewable energy company is promoted by the Vedanta Group. The company plans to set up 5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity over the next few years. 

It has already entered power purchase agreements to set up three projects with total capacity of 1.5 gigawatts across Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. 

The company is expected to cater renewable energy demand from large corporates. Recent changes in Indian policies and renewed efforts to decarbonization among corporates has made this market very attractive. 

The Ministry of Power recently exempted renewable energy projects from paying a transmission charge if they are commissioned before 30 June 2025. The exemption shall remain in force for 25 years from start of project operation. 

A number of companies in India have also signed up to the RE100 initiative of the Carbon Disclosure Project and are looking to aggressively increase share of renewable power in their consumption mix. A few months back, the Indian government also tabled a bill in Parliament announcing plans to implement a carbon market in the near future. 

Many large corporates have already announced plans to set up large-scale offsite renewable energy projects to power their operations. The most recent example is the power purchase agreements signed by Amazon India to buy 420 megawatts of solar power from three projects located in the state of Rajasthan.