India's Adani eyeing bid for SunEdison solar assets

[MUMBAI] Indian conglomerate Adani Group is considering a bid for the local solar assets of US SunEdison, the chief executive officer for Adani's renewable energy arm said on Friday.

Jayant Parimal, Adani Green Energy Ltd's CEO, told reporters in Mumbai that his company was deciding whether to bid after investment bankers appointed by the US firm approached it to gauge interest.

SunEdison filed for bankruptcy in April after an ambitious growth plan and US$12 billion in debts proved unsustainable.

That has cast doubt over its ability to take advantage of India's push into renewable energy, and analysts predict that SunEdison will sell a number of local solar and wind assets or seek equity partners for projects to raise capital.

SunEdison runs solar plants in India with capacities of about 450 megawatts (MW). It has another 800 MW of capacity under development and won a tender for a 500 MW plant in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh.

It is not immediately clear how much a bid for its solar assets would be worth.

Parimal said that Adani, which has interests in coal mining, oil and gas exploration and logistics, was targeting a solar generation capacity of 3,500 MW by April next year.

It is also building a solar panel manufacturing plant at Mundra in India's western Gujarat state where the parent company owns a huge port.

REUTERS