IDFC PE's energy arm to raise $50 mn from IFC

Green Infra Ltd, a company set up by IDFC Private Equity to develop renewable energy projects, is planning to raise around $50 million (Rs 280 crore) from International Finance Corporation (IFC).

GIL was founded in 2008 by IDFC PE. In the past two years, it had developed projects with an operational capacity of 238.7 Mw across Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The company aims to expand its portfolio to 2-2.5 Gw in two to three years and 3.5-4.0 Gw in four to five years. It currently has 286.5 Mw worth of projects under development.

IDFC PE, a fully owned subsidiary of IDFC, manages $1.3 billion of assets through three infrastructure funds and has made 32 investments across 28 companies, including a $78 million investment in GIL.

“IFC is considering providing an overall envelope for debt funding in the amount of $50 mn, to be used over the next two years for various projects that GIL is developing,” said the corporation.

The first tranche of this financing is expected to be provided to two subsidiaries of GIL that are developing 20 Mw and 5 Mw capacity, respectively, of solar power generation in Rajasthan. They got their licences in competitive bidding under the second batch of the first phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The Rajasthan project is expected to cost around $45 mn in all and expected to get commissioned in February 2013.

Both companies have entered into a 25-year power purchase agreement with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, a public agency designated by the Government of India for the purchase and resale of power under the first phase of the JNNSM. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC, the Union government-owned generator of thermal power.

Other projects GIL is developing, which IFC might consider for financing under the facility, include a 99 Mw wind energy project in Karnataka, a 31.5 Mw wind energy project in Tamil Nadu, and a 12 Mw run-of-the-river hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh, said the Corporation.