India Grid Trust (IndiGrid), the infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) backed by private equity firm KKR, has snagged investments from two foreign and one Indian investor for its greenfield interstate transmission systems (ISTS) projects.
IndiGrid had won three ISTS projects last year that are under construction. These are being constructed by three special purpose vehicles: Ishanagar Power Transmission Ltd, Dhule Power Transmission Ltd, and Kallam Transco Ltd.
British International Investment (BII), Norfund-managed Norwegian Climate Investment Fund and Techno Electric and Engineering Company Ltd will invest in these projects that help evacuate green energy of the order of 6GW across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
In addition, Techno Electric will co-develop the Ishanagar and Dhule projects and invest minority capital. Techno will also be responsible for the complete execution of the projects on a Lump Sum Turnkey (LSTK) basis, IndiGrid said in a release. IndiGrid will be acquiring entire stake in these projects once they are operational and revenue generating.
IndiGrid did not comment on the quantum of the investments by the three investors.
During FY24, IndiGrid operationalized its first greenfield ISTS project, Kallam Transmission Ltdd, and won five additional projects, across ISTS and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), with a tentative capex outlay of around Rs 2,000 crore to be deployed over the next 12-24 months.
“Our partnership earlier with IFC and now with BII and Norfund is a testament to our strong commitment to aligning with leading ESG standards in our businesses,” said Harsh Shah, CEO of IndiGrid.
Rohit Anand, Head of Infrastructure Equity, Asia at British International Investment, said that India needs an investment of Rs 4.75 trillion in the transmission sector to facilitate integration of renewable energy capacities and meet its decarbonization goals.
IndiGrid owns 41 power projects, consisting of 49 transmission lines, 15 substations and 1.1 GWp of solar generation capacity. It has assets under management of about $3.5 billion.
