On 28th September 2020, The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed an agreement to invest 15 million USD (Rs.109.9 crore) in Avaada Energy Private Limited(AEPL) to support the company to scale the photovoltaic solar energy generation capacity in India.
Shantanu Chakraborty, Director of Infrastructure Finance, South Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia at ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department and Vineet Mittal, Chairman of AEPL have signed the investment agreement.
About the Fund:
i.This 15 million USD investment of ADB will be provided as 7.5 Million USD each from both ADBs Ordinary Capital Resources and Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund(LEAP).
ii.This is a part of ADB’s ongoing support to India’s renewable energy and will also support the Government of India to achieve its target for clean power generation.
iii.This investment reinforces the support for the international development community to the efforts of India.
iv.With this investment, the current operational capacity of AEPL is 1 gigawatt(GW) will be expanded to more than 3.5GW.
v.This marks ADB’s 2nd investment in AEPL following the 50 Million USD investment in April 2019.
About LEAP:
LEAP was established by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2016 to finance high quality and sustainable private sector infrastructure projects.
ADB support to renewable energy of India:
i.Since 2007, ADB has supported the development of renewable energy in India. ADB financed the first wind project under the Independent power producer(IPP) model.
ii.ADB also financed various Solar IPPs under the National Solar Mission and other state policies.
iii.These projects will contribute towards the strategy of India to increase the renewable energy generation capacity from 20% in 2018 to 40% by 2030.
Recent Related News:
i.On September 10, 2020, as a part of Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) ongoing support to India’s renewable energy sector, a long term loan agreement of Rs 4.66 billion (about $65.5 million) was inked between ADB and the ENGIE group to construct and operate a 200-megawatt alternating current solar photovoltaic-based power plant at Raghanesda Solar Park in Gujarat.Â
ii.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 1 billion (about Rs 7,485 crore) loan to construct the modern, high-speed 82-kilometer Delhi – Meerut, Uttar Pradesh Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) in India, a first of its kind in India. The finance of the Delhi- Meerut RRTS project will be given in 4 tranches between August 2020 and May 2025. The NCR Transport Corporation (NCRTC) will execute the project.
About Avaada Energy Private Limited(AEPL):
AEPL, a leading solar energy projects developer in India through utility scale, rooftop and offgrid solar facilities.
Chairman – Vineet Mittal
Headquarters– New Delhi & Mumbai, MaharashtraÂ
About Asian Development Bank(ADB):
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
Headquarters– Metro Manila, Philippines
