Private equity firm Actis LLP has promoted its energy infrastructure director Abhishek Bansal to partner, the firm said on Thursday.
Bansal joined Actis in 2012 from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and spearheaded the PE firm’s first renewable energy business in India, Ostro Energy, which was later sold in 2018 to Renew Power Ventures.
“Abhishek has been instrumental in establishing Actis as one of the largest private capital investors in the global power sector. We are thrilled to welcome his leadership and insights into the partnership”, Torbjorn Caesar, senior partner at Actis said.
Actis said that Bansal played a key role in establishing subsequent renewable energy businesses in India, including its second renewable energy venture Sprng Energy. Sprng Energy was set up in late 2016 and is now targeting 2 Giga Watts of capacity.
“Abhishek’s promotion recognises the key role he has been playing in building our India energy business”, Sanjiv Aggarwal, a partner of the energy team at Actis said. Aggarwal said that the company plans to make large investments in the renewable sector by building on its investments and through Sprng and Ostro platforms.
Last month, a media report said that Actis was looking to acquire four-fifths of the stake in 500 megawatts of solar projects in India owned by Finland’s state-controlled power utility Fortum Oyj. Fortum would retain the remaining stake.
In October last year, it had planned to invest as much as $1 billion in India’s renewable energy sector over the next five years.
The British investor entered the Indian renewable energy sector in late 2014 with an initial commitment of $230 million to Ostro Energy Pvt. Ltd. It subsequently increased the commitment to Ostro to $300 million, before selling it to ReNew Power Pvt. Ltd in 2018.
Actis had started making renewable energy investments in India just before the Narendra Modi government in early 2015 decided to install 175 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity, including 100 GW of solar power, by 2022.
Asia remains a key market for Actis as it grows its infrastructure investment activities in the regions, the London-based PE firm said.
