Global oil giants are looking to diversify and invest in India’s emerging green economy as the conventional hydrocarbon space undergoes technological disruptions.
Norway’s Statoil ASA, France’s Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have shown interest in investing in Amplus that has set up 350 megawatts of capacity across India.
Russia’s OAO Rosneft, the world’s largest publicly-traded oil firm, has also been exploring opportunities in India’s solar energy sector.
The latest entrant is Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company, Petroliam Nasional Berhad, or Petronas, it is in talks with New York-based I Squared Capital to buy a majority stake in Amplus Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd, one of India’s largest rooftop solar power producers in a potential deal worth about ₹2,700 crore.
Founded in 2010, Amplus counts India Yamaha Motor Pvt. Ltd, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, Walmart India Pvt. Ltd, Hilton Hotels Corp. and Gurgaon-based Vatika Group among its clients, which are trying to cut their energy costs by harnessing the sun.
Distributed renewable energy generation is attracting strong investor interest as the market has few developers with large portfolios. India plans to add 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity by 2022 out of which 40GW is supposed to come from rooftop projects.
Reference- Livemint