Indian solar sector raises whopping USD 10 bn in 2017, says report

Indian solar sector attracted over USD 10 billion investment in 2017 as compared to USD 4 billion in the previous year, clean energy research firm Mercom Capital said. Solar funding grew last year as approximately 9.6 GW of solar installations were added to the grid. “In 2017, Indian solar sector logged over USD 10 billion in financing activity, according to Mercom Capital Group’s recently released 2017 Q4 and Annual India Solar Market update,” it said in a statement. In 2016, USD 4 billion was invested in the sector. Project financing last year rose to about USD 6.4 billion on the back of 9.6 GW of solar installations compared to USD 3.5 billion investment in the category in 2016, it said. The corporate funding (VC/PE, public market, and debt) raised by solar companies in 2017 totalled USD 3.6 billion and accounted for 28 per cent of the global total. Of this, venture capital and private equity investments accounted for USD 800 million, which is 50 per cent of the global total. The increase in corporate funding in 2017 was largely spurred by large private equity deals. The biggest of these deals was announced by ReNew Power, which closed two agreements worth USD 200 million each. Several other companies announced deals worth more than USD 100 million, including Greenko Energy, Hero Future Energies, and CleanMax Solar, it said.