Serentica Renewables raises Rs 3.5k crore via ECBs

MUMBAI: Vedanta Group entity Serentica Renewables, a commercial and industrial (C&I) focused renewable energy developer in India, has raised a ?3,500 crore ($425 million) foreign currency loan for its round-the-clock renewable energy project in India.A consortium of three international banks (Rabobank, MUFG Bank, Societe Generale) and three Indian lenders (YES Bank, Export-Import Bank of India, India Infrastructure Finance Company) have structured the loan for Serentica. Rabobank acted as the sole structuring bank for this loan facility. Tenure of the ECB facility is seven years, and the interest rate is 6.25%.

This deal will help Serentica in funding the development of its 530 MW hybrid (wind and solar) renewable energy projects coming up in Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

“This is the first ever dollar loan for a C&I project in India. For high-quality platforms pursuing decarbonization, there is a good amount of depth in the local and foreign banks for debt and a good amount of depth in the equity markets for equity,” said Pratik Agarwal, chairman, Serentica Renewables.

He said India is a ?3-4 lakh crore electricity consumption market just in the C&I segment that is badly served. “There are deeply dissatisfied customers there. If you can offer them a high-quality round-the-clock green product at the right price, we believe there’s a huge opportunity, so we’re focused on that.”

This project will provide clean energy to one of India’s largest zinc producers, Hindustan Zinc, replacing 24% of their coal-based power supply with firm dispatchable green power while significantly reducing the carbon footprint.This capital infusion comes close on the heels of the total debt raise of ?5,600 crore- ?3,000 crore from REC Ltd and ?2,600 from Power Finance Corporation- to fund its hybrid renewable energy projects coming up in Karnataka where it is setting up 560 MW of wind and solar capacities.