BackUK govt’s CDC Group announces clean energy platform Ayana Renewable Power
Ayana Renewable Power will develop hundreds of megawatts of generation capacity for underserved Indian states and neighbouring countries in South Asia
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Mumbai: CDC Group Plc, the UK government’s development finance institution, on Tuesday announced the launch of Ayana Renewable Power, a renewable energy platform for India and neighbouring countries.
Mint reported about CDC Group’s plan on 23 February last year.
Ayana will develop hundreds of megawatts of generation capacity for underserved Indian states and neighbouring countries in South Asia, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
It will be run by an independent board and management team.
In a statement, the CDC Group said it had appointed Shivanand Nimbargi as managing director and chief executive officer, and P.J. Nayak as chairman of Ayana.
Nimbargi, with over 20 years of experience in the power sector, was managing director and CEO of Green Infra Ltd from 2011 to 2016.
He previously held senior roles at Alstom India and was most recently managing director of L&T Metro Rail, Hyderabad.
Nayak, with more than 25 years of experience in the banking and financial services sector, is a former chairman and CEO of Axis Bank, and has also served as the chairman of Union Bank of Colombo Plc, country head at Morgan Stanley India and senior adviser at TPG Capital.
As an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, he was joint secretary in the finance ministry's department of economic affairs.
The CDC Group has invested over $1.3 billion in India since 1987.
In the green energy space, the development finance institution invested $25 million in IDFC Alternatives-backed clean energy firm Green Infra in November 2013.
In April last year, CDC Group announced an investment of up to $100 million to support the development of renewable energy projects in India.
According to the BP Energy Outlook released in January last year, India’s demand for green energy is expected to grow seven-fold by 2035. Consequently, the share of renewable energy in India’s fuel mix will rise to 8% in 2035 from the current 2%.
India, which is the biggest greenhouse gas emitter after the US and China, currently has a renewable energy installed capacity of 58.30 GW, according to the latest government data. The government has an ambitious target of raising it to 175 GW by 2022, including 100GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy, as part of its commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted by 195 countries in Paris in December 2015.
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