Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecom companies, has joined hands with Avaada Energy and decided to buy an additional 3.3% stake in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) Avaada MHBuldhana to procure 21.32 MW of solar power under the group-captive arrangement.
As per the release, the acquisition will help the telecom giant to reduce its carbon footprint.
Avaada Energy is the parent company of this SPV. Avaada MHBuldhana is a newly-formed company developing a captive solar project that will become operational by the end of this month.
In November last year, Bharti Airtel signed an agreement to acquire equity shares in Avaada MH Buldhana for solar projects. As part of the agreement, Airtel acquired 5.20% equity shares for ?45 million (~$606,990) through the subscription of 4,550,000 equity shares valued at ?10 ($0.13) in tranches. With this additional stake, Bharti Airtel has now acquired a total of 8.53% in Avaada’s SPV.
Speaking on this latest development, Vineet Mittal, Chairman of Avaada Group, said, “Avaada continues to contribute to India’s green energy revolution led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is good to see that leading corporates are switching from fossil fuel-based energy to clean energy solutions; we are working with some of the leading MNCs who have committed to switching to 100% renewables.”
Avaada is developing projects in states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. The company is targeting an operational capacity of 5 GW by the end of this year. With over 500 MW of signed contracts under open access, the company is helping corporate houses to meet their green energy needs and reduce CO2 emissions significantly.
Bharti Enterprises’ move is expected to encourage other corporates to go the solar way and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have become a big threat to the environment.
Previously, Mercom reported that Bharti Airtel had entered into an agreement with AMPSolar Evolution, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMPSolar Technology, to acquire equity shares and compulsorily convertible debentures as part of a group captive solar project deal.
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