Sterlite Power, a power transmission infrastructure developer, announced that it had sold a 14.7% stake in the India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) for an amount of ₹8.4 billion (~$112.2 million) to institutional and high net-worth individual (HNI) investors.
IndiGrid is an infrastructure investment trust (“InvIT”) established by Sterlite Power Grid Ventures Limited to own inter-state power transmission assets in India.
As per the company’s current portfolio,it has projects of over 13,700 circuit kilometers (ckm) and 24,800 MVA in India and Brazil.
Commenting on this latest development, Pratik Agarwal, Managing Director of Sterlite Power, said, “Sterlite Power is proud to have played a role in creating India’s first power sector infrastructure investment trust which has grown over the years with participation from marquee investors. We will now focus on our core business as the developer of power transmission assets. We’re mainly committed to executing asset transfers of about ₹65 billion (~$868.5 million) as per the framework agreement with IndiGrid.”
“We firmly believe that InvITs will remain a powerful platform to meet the large-scale financing requirements of the infrastructure sector. The global financial markets will remain in a yield-seeking mode for a considerable period, and this will provide enough capital supply to well-managed real estate investment trusts and InvITs,” he added.
Recently, Sterlite Power announced that it had acquired Vapi-II North Lakhimpur Transmission Limited, a special purpose vehicle of PFC Consulting Limited, to execute a large interstate transmission system (ISTS) strengthening project. One part of the project involves setting up 35 ckm lines in Gujarat to help distribute renewable energy being generated in the state to a wider set of consumers.
Sterlite Power is also constructing transmission assets in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh, including critical corridors that are part of India’s Green Energy Corridor.
Earlier, Sterlite Power had announced that it would join hands with GE T&D India Limited, Unitech Power Transmission Limited, Tata Projects Limited, and Associate Power Structures to develop the Lakadia Vadodara Transmission Project Limited under the Green Energy Corridor. The project connects the wind energy zones of Gujarat to the load centres in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
