ADB to invest $30 mn in Hyderabad-based NSL Renewable Power

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is investing $30 million (Rs162.66 crore) in NSL Renewable Power (NRP) in order to support the Indian company's hydro and wind power projects.

The investment by the multilateral lender would be its first in an Indian private renewable power generation and hydropower company.

The $30-million investment for NRP comes a few days after a group of investors from Germany, France and South Korea also agreed to invest around $60 million in the Hyderabad-based company

NRP, a subsidiary of NSL Group, will use the money from the ADB for partly funding construction of its 100 megawatt Tidong run-of-river hydro project in Himachal Pradesh and 75-megawatt Chilarewadi wind plant in  Maharashtra.

This investment will help NRP reach its target of 1,000 MW of operational renewable energy assets by 2017.

''We feel privileged to be the recipient of ADB's first equity investment in renewable energy space in the private sector in India,'' said Prabhakar Rao, chairman of NSL Group.

''India will increasingly need renewable energy to drive its development and private sector will play a role in the country achieving green growth,'' said Jo Yamagata, ADB's deputy director general, private sector operations department.

NRP has 185 megawatts of operational projects (including hydro, wind, biomass and solar power projects), with an additional 336 megawatts of renewable power under construction or in advanced development.

The company belongs to the NSL group, which includes Nuziveedu Seeds Limited, the largest seed company in India.