Aditya Birla Nuvo (ABNL), a company engaged in diversified businesses has sold its 49% stake in Aditya Birla Renewables, currently a wholly owned subsidiary of ABNL to The Abraaj Group (Abraaj).
Abraaj is a leading private equity investor, purpose-built for operating in the growth markets of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Turkey.
The company said, 'The Aditya Birla Group, a USD 41 billion multinational conglomerate has entered into partnership with Abraaj to build a large scale renewable energy platform focused on developing utility scale solar power plants in India.'
ABNL has entered into a definitive share subscription and shareholders agreement (SSA) with an affiliate of Abraaj, under which ABNL and the Abraaj affiliate will hold 51% and 49% of the paid up share capital respectively, in Aditya Birla Renewables.
Aditya Birla Renewables, the solar power platform, will bid for projects tendered at national and state auctions, with the intent to develop and operate utility-scale solar power plants that can provide clean and cost-effective electricity to the national grids across several key states in India.
Dev Bhattacharya, Business Head, Group Corporate Strategy, Solar Power & E-Commerce, Aditya Birla Group, said, 'The Aditya Birla Group supports the Government of India's initiative for a greater share of renewables in the energy mix, essential for sustained economic and industrial growth. This cooperation will give a fillip to the Aditya Birla Group’s renewable energy initiatives and contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of India as a whole.'
The Indian government has created favorable regulatory policies to foster the use of renewable energy, including setting an explicit target to achieve 100 GW of solar power capacity by 2022 compared to the current installed capacity of approximately 4 GW.
Together, these factors create a compelling investment opportunity for the private sector, which can help meet the significant demand for renewable energy.
Shares of ABNL gained Rs 12.65, or 0.57%, to trade at Rs 2,235.10. The total volume of shares traded was 0 at the BSE (9.07 a.m., Wednesday).
