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India’s NTPC Seeks Renewables Unit Investor Before IPO Next Year

NTPC is seeking a strategic investor in its renewables business prior to taking the unit public next year.

India’s NTPC Seeks Renewables Unit Investor Before IPO Next Year
Signage stands at an entrance to the coal-fired NTPC Ltd. Badarpur Thermal Power Station in Delhi. (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)

NTPC Ltd., India’s largest electricity producer, is seeking a strategic investor in its renewables business prior to taking the unit public next year, said a company official with knowledge of the matter.

NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of the New Delhi-based firm, plans international roadshows in the fiscal year starting April to find a partner and hopes an investor will boost the value of the subsequent IPO, said the official, who asked not to be identified because the plans are still private. 

India is the world’s third-biggest emitter and remains deeply reliant on coal, but the government plans to more than quadruple renewable power capacity by the end of the decade to meet climate commitments. NTPC this year nearly doubled its clean power installation target to 60 gigawatts by 2032. 

“The company is going to need a significant amount of equity money” to meet the target, said Rupesh Sankhe, vice president at Elara Capital India Pvt. in Mumbai. “Bringing in equity partners is a natural choice.”  

Global firms -- from private equity players to pension funds to energy giants -- have dominated funding for India’s renewables buildout so far and the nation is counting on overseas financing to meet its climate goals.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.