Bangalore-based Soham Renewable Energy India Pvt Ltd is scouting for acquisitions in the renewable energy space and is working on a target of acquiring 100 MW of projects in the next two years.
“We are open to acquisitions in the wind, solar or biomass space across the country; if good opportunities come up we may even look at Sri Lanka,” Mr Sanjith S. Shetty, Managing Director of the company, told Business Line .
Soham has already tied up investments to fund the potential acquisitions and recently received Rs 125 crore funding from SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund, out of a total commitment of Rs 365 crore from the fund.
“The Rs 125 crore is for projects under implementation of 67 MW and Rs 250 crore is for potential acquisitions,” Mr Shetty said.
Acquisitions are being made to increase the portfolio size and to have projects in other States, too, he pointed out. “We have shortlisted potential acquisitions but not closed on any of them,” he added.
Soham is present only in Karnataka as of today and in the mini-hydel space.
The eight-year-old green energy company has an installed capacity of 37 MW and is in the process of commissioning another 67 MW across five mini-hydel projects.
Soham had previously raised private equity from the D. E. Shaw Group, a global investment and technology development firm.
While the funding from SBI Macquarie will fully tie up the equity needs of the company, debt is expected to be tied up from leading institutions such as State Bank of India, ICICI, Andhra Bank, Axis Bank, IDBI and Syndicate Bank, some of which has already been sanctioned, the company said.
Wind, solar projects
Apart from acquisitions, Soham also plans to set up wind and solar projects, Mr Shetty said. He added that Soham is in the process of talking to different governments on costs of power.