NTPC Ltd receives 13 bids for minority stake sale in Green Energy arm

India’s largest power generating company NTPC Limited has received interest from a dozen companies, majorly global asset managers and financiers for stake in its green energy arm. The thermal power behemoth is looking to sell minority stake to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore.

Sources said, among the ones who have submitted bids are Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Brookfield, Abu Dhabi’s TAQA and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas and global steel major ArcelorMittal have also put their bids for the same.

NTPC has doubled its plan for non-fossil fuel sources based power to 132 Gw by 2032 at an estimated investment of $30 billion, said senior executives. This includes solar, wind, hydro, nuclear and also green fuels.

NTPC-Renewable Energy ltd (NREL), which was incorporated in October 2020 has now been made part of an umbrella entity NTPC Green Energy Ltd (NGEL). It will also execute projects on green fuels, battery storage and energy efficiency, said executives.

Business Standard had earlier reported, NTPC will reduce its stake in NGEL as it plans to list it in the coming financial year. Senior executives said, the company will do a private placement offer and then follow with a public offer. Senior executives did not indicate the stake proportion but said the company was aiming for the range of 10-15 per cent but can take it up till 26 per cent.

Among the key renewable energy projects that NTPC is currently working on is the mega solar power park in Khavda, Gujarat, where it will set up 5 Gw of solar power capacity. The company is also in the process of inviting expression of interest for setting up 15 Gw of solar cell and module manufacturing.

It will also soon come out with a tender for energy storage of 3 Gw, which will be “technology and location agnostic”, said an executive. The company recently announced setting up ‘India’s first Green Hydrogen based Energy Storage Project’ at its Simhadri power plant in Andhra Pradesh.

The stake sale of NGEL is a part of the asset monetisation target of NTPC pegged at Rs 15,000 crore for three years. Along with the listing of NGEL, NTPC is also looking to pare its stake in two companies – NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam ltd (NVVN), it power trading arm and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation ltd (NEEPCO). NTPC acquired 100 per cent stake in NEEPCO in March 2020, earlier owned by the union government of India to contribute to the divestment target of the Centre.

As part of the same plan, NTPC is also looking to exit from its joint venture with steel major SAIL Ltd – NTPC-SAILPower Company Ltd. However, sources said SAIL is reluctant to take this exercise forward.

Centre’s think tank NITI Aayog in its National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) has identified 6 GW worth of power generation assets for monetisation over FY 2022-25. This included 3.5 GW hydel assets and about 2.5 GW is renewable (solar and wind energy). The Centre can fetch around Rs 39,832 crore from power generation assets, according to NITI.