The investment from Zurich-based responsAbility, following on from one from the Development Bank of Austria, reflects growing interest in supporting India’s energy transition among international investors.
Swiss impact investment manager responsAbility said it will invest up to $35m (€32.5m) in AMPIN Energy Transition, an Indian renewable energy project developer contributing to India’s ambitious green energy drive.
The investment is part of responsAbility’s $500m climate investment strategy, launched in November 2023, targeting carbon emissions reductions in Asia. This is its largest individual climate financing commitment to date, according to the company, which is part of UK-based M&G.
The funding is intended to help New Delhi-based AMPIN expand its portfolio of solar and wind energy projects across India, which has already attracted around $500m in equity investment.
Building market infrastructure
Sameer Tirkar, head of climate infrastructure investments, APAC at responsAbility, said the investment emphasised his company’s commitment to renewable energy in India and the commercial and industrial (C&I) solar market in particular.
“Drawing from our past experiences in the renewable energy sector, we recognise the value of partnerships in advancing sustainable investing. Through our partnership with AMPIN, we aim to contribute to a more resilient energy infrastructure in India,” he said.
Since being founded in 2016, AMPIN – formerly known as Amp Energy India – has developed projects for C&I customers and utilities with a capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) peak supply. Located across 21 Indian states, these can potentially supply electricity to nearly 1.4 million Indian households a year. AMPIN’s C&I customers include manufacturing, auto and auto ancillary, pharma, healthcare, hospitals, fast-moving consumer goods, and data centres.
AMPIN is targeting an increase in operating capacity to 10 GW by 2030, against the backdrop of India’s aim of developing 500 GW of renewable energy installed capacity by that date, which is intended to supply half of the country’s fast-growing energy requirements by then. India is targeting net zero emissions by 2070.
OeEB’s AMPIN investment
responsibility is the latest in a string of impact investors and development banks to invest in AMPIN, as part of India’s broader drive to develop renewable energy.
In March, OeEB, the Development Bank of Austria, said it was committing €25 million in long-term financing to support AMPIN in expanding its renewable energy portfolio and establishing a 1GW solar cell and module production facility in Odisha state.
OeEB said this investment would not only support the government’s goal to scale up renewable energy capacity and reduce CO2 emissions but would also increase local control over the supply chain for components crucial for the solar industry by boosting local manufacturing. Currently solar energy developers are often reliant on components produced in China.
Another significant recent move reflecting growing international interest in the country’s renewables sector was a deal under which India’s Adani Green Energy (AGEL) transferred 1.05GW of its renewable energy portfolio to a joint venture with France’s TotalEnergies. Under the terms of that deal, which was announced last September and completed in January, TotalEnergies invested $300m in an AGEL subsidiary to take a 50% stake in the projects under its umbrella.
