Azure Power raises close to $30.5m
Renewable energy firm Azure Power Global Ltd has raised close to ₹200 crore (approximately $30.5 million) in debt from Dutch development finance institution FMO, two people aware of the development said.
“Azure has raised debt financing from FMO to the tune of ₹200 crore. The funds will be used by Azure to invest in the development of its ongoing projects and those in the pipeline,” said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to reporters. “The company has close to 300 megawatts (MW) of projects under development as of today.”
FMO has a committed portfolio of €9.8 billion across emerging markets, making it one of the larger bilateral private sector development banks globally. FMO, which invests in sectors such as agribusiness, infrastructure, manufacturing and services, energy, financial institutions and in multi-sector private investment funds, has a total Asia exposure of €2.7 billion.
Azure Power has a diversified portfolio of 1,069MW in 18 states, of which 771MW is operational and 298MW is committed and under construction, according to details available on the company’s website. Majority of its portfolio has as counter-party government of India agencies such as NTPC Ltd and Solar Energy Corp of India Ltd.
Emails sent last week to Azure Power and FMO did not elicit any response.
Azure Power became the first Indian renewable energy company to get listed on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2016. It sold 3.41 million shares in an IPO. Azure raised $61.36 million through the IPO.
Ahead of Azure’s IPO, Canadian pension fund CDPQ picked up a stake worth $75 million as part of a private placement. CDPQ owns 20% in Azure.
For the year ended March 31, Azure Power reported a revenue of ₹418.30 crore, as compared to a revenue of ₹262.62 crore in the previous financial year. Loss narrowed to ₹148.3 crore in 2016-17 from ₹303.8 crore a year ago.
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