Green energy startups India
“It’s year one for solar in India, ” says Alan Rosling, the chairman and executive director of Kiran Energy, a solar developer startup based in Mumbai. But despite the early stage and small size of the crew at Kiran Energy — the company is two years old and has 25 employees and $50 million in funding from U.S. private equity firms — Kiran is determined to play a significant role in financing, owning and developing large-scale solar panel farms in India.
Kiran hits it big
During an interview this week in Kiran Energy’s Mumbai office, Rosling told me how Kiran has for the moment become “the biggest focused solar power developer” in terms of contracts in India. There are other large conglomerates or power companies that have potentially larger portfolios, but Kiran is currently the leader in terms of the solar-specific folks, says Rosling.
Kiran has 75 MW’s worth of solar contracts, including 50 MW that the company won just weeks ago in the latest Indian government solar auction (which Rosling called “nail-biting” and “exciting.”) The government has been bidding out projects under a goal to deliver 3 percent of the country’s power via solar by 2022: That could eventually be 25 GW.
Individual states also have their own solar plans, and Kiran has a 5 MW project with the state of Rajasthan.
Kiran is just starting to hit it big. The company will open its first plant this month, and it has also managed to score a joint venture with Indian conglomerate Mahindra called Mahindra Solar One, of which Kiran is a majority owner. “When we signed the contract for the JV with Mahindra we were just two guys, ” says Rosling.
Rosling’s counterpart is founder Ardeshir Contractor, formerly the head of KPMG’s Investment Banking business in India. Rosling, a former executive director of Tata Sons, tells me that Contractor came to him with the idea for Kiran and persuaded him with the pitch about the business model and the potentially massive size of the Indian solar market.
You might also like
|
Home Wind Turbine 2kw/48V - wind generator for home use Lawn & Patio (WindMax Green Energy)
|
Nortech Systems' (NSYS) CEO Rich Wasielewski on Q2 2014 Results - Earnings .. — Seeking Alpha
This expertise is especially valuable for development stage and start-up medical device companies. These companies are looking to us as manufacturing partners, so they can better focus on research and development and marketing of their products.
|
Ricoh Aficio SP C220N Color Laser Printer CE (Ricoh)
|
Q&A
What's the best way for India's energy startups to attract foreign investment?
Several companies we studied in this report have received investment from international investors. Investors we spoke to suggested that companies should aim to perfect their business models and
develop standardized procedures and practices in one district, before looking to replicate and scale up. We also found a great deal of interest from the strong investment community in India that is
increasingly providing capital to the clean technology sector. Experience from WRI’s New Ventures network suggests that the majority of clean technology VC deals in India are either in large scale
com…
Energy and Global Warming News for December 2: Why Texans see green gold in renewable resources; Moves by U.S., China induce India to climate action; Chinese grain production could drop 37%
Dan Templeton stands on the nacelle of a 2-megawatt DeWind turbine in Sweetwater, Texas. Four of the world’s five biggest wind projects are in Sweetwater’s Nolan County.”
