In the midst of a global lockdown in which Avaada Energy emerged as the winner in the bidding for 2 GW solar projects auctioned by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) online under the e-reverse auction method.
The successful online auction would entail capex of over Rs 11,000 crores. SoftBank, Axis Energy Ventures (Brookfield promoted), O2 Power (Temasek promoted) and EDEN Renewables are the other winners. The auction took place during the COVID-19 induced global lockdown. Despite businesses struggling across the world, India remains the hotspot for renewable energy investors.
In a tweet earlier, R.K. Singh, the Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy, said, “During lockdown we kept our interaction with stakeholders alive through virtual platforms and also brought out new bids. This tariff is the result of several measures which we have undertaken during the past few months to enhance the confidence of investors and to promote ease of doing business. We stand committed to minimizing the risk to investors.”
Commenting on the development Mr. Vineet Mittal, Chairman, Avaada Energy, said, “The bidding was aggressive and low market demand was trying to drive the price down. Our bid was competitive, and we are happy that we won against some tough competition. On the back of a highly conducive policy environment, a steady influx of capital, falling prices and new technologies, India will continue its exponential growth in its renewable energy (RE) sector.”
Avaada Energy Pvt Ltd is one such success stories aspiring to be India’s green energy unicorn. Avaada has been the darling of global investors having few repeat investors in its pool of global behemoths like the Asian Development Bank, Germany’s Deutsche Entwicklungs- und Investitionsgesellschaft (DEG), Dutch development bank Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO).
The successful auction has shown that India is committed to more than meeting the goals of its national contributions in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement; it is going to “overdeliver,” in the parlance of global economists.
