Stan Chartered to invest Rs 500-crore in Sterlite Power Grid

Power transmission solutions provider, Sterlite Technologies has entered into an agreement to raise Rs 500 crore through equity infusion from Standard Chartered Private Equity for funding its existing as well as new projects, the company said today.

"Sterlite Technologies has entered into agreements with Standard Chartered Private Equity for an equity investment of Rs 500 crore in Sterlite Power Grid Ventures Ltd (SPGVL)," a release issued here said.

SPGVL, a subsidiary of Sterlite, focused on the development and operations of power transmission projects, will issue convertible securities to Standard Chartered Private Equity for a minority share, it said.

"The proceeds will be used for equity contribution in existing as well as new power transmission projects. While there have been many foreign investments in the power generation sector, this would be the first foreign investment into India's power transmission sector," SPGVL chairman Pravin Agarwal said.

He further said that though the country's generation capacity is increasing, there is a clear bottleneck in transmission and distribution sectors due to which many parts of the country are energy surplus while others remain power-deficient.

"Through our initiatives in transmission, we endeavour to contribute to the new government's stated vision of providing 24X7 power to every Indian household," Agarwal added.
SPGVL is the largest private developer of power transmission systems in the country with a portfolio of six projects on build, own, operate and maintain (BOOM) basis spread across 10 states, the company said.