GEF Capital Partners, a global PE (private equity) fund focused on financing climate solutions, is going to invest Rs 200 crore in Hyderabad-based Premier Energies, one of India's leading solar photovoltaic cell and module manufacturing companies.
Founded in 2018, GEF was spun out of the US-based Global Environment Fund.
Premier Energies will use the funds as growth capital to enhance its solar PV cell and module manufacturing capacity. Centrum Capital Limited was the exclusive advisor to Premier Energies on this transaction.
The company will invest the equity capital to consolidate its presence as a leading integrated solar cell and module manufacturer by adding additional capacity of 2 GW cell manufacturing and 2 GW of module manufacturing based on the latest Monocrystalline PERC technology along with a planned investment of over Rs. 1200 Crores over the next 2 years, it said in a statement.
"We are excited to have a credible partner like GEF Capital on board and the timing of investment is critical for us to capitalise the huge growth potential presented by the industry," said Surender Pal Singh, Chairman, Premier Energies.
Chiranjeev Saluja, Founder and Managing Director, said "We are extremely upbeat about the progressive policy changes brought about by GOI in this sector. I am confident about meeting the growth expectations of our stakeholders, and at the same time we will continue to strive to improvise on sustainable sources of Clean Energy."
Sridhar Narayan, founder of GEF Capital and Managing Partner of the South Asia investment programme, said "Premier has demonstrated a strong commitment to deploying the latest technology to address the challenges of climate change. GEF Capital is proud to partner with Premier Energies to build a world-class solar manufacturing business."
Based in Hyderabad, Premier Energies is currently the second largest integrated solar photovoltaic cell and module manufacturer in India and has completed 25 years of operations in 2020.
In July 2021 the company unveiled its new state-of-the-art facility at E-City Hyderabad with a capacity of 750 MW solar cell and 750 MW solar module that produces MCCE textured multi-crystalline cells and modules, Mono PERC cells and modules as well as polycrystalline cells and modules.
The solar cell manufacturing sector has lately witnessed unprecedented interest from strategic investors led by progressive government-driven initiatives like Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) policy, Basic Customs Duty (BCD) and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme under the Atmanirbhar initiative.