Sumitomo to put US$1.3 billion into India renewable power projects

[TOKYO] Sumitomo Corp will invest US$1.3 billion on several Indian renewable power projects, to take advantage of rapid growth in demand from major industrial users.

The funds will be invested via a joint venture between the Japanese trading house and Indian company AMPIN Energy Transition, with the goal to develop projects totalling 2 gigawatts of capacity by the of the financial year through March 2028, according to a Sumitomo spokesperson. The plan was first reported in the Nikkei newspaper.

India, which still relies on fossil fuels for about three-quarters of its power generation, will need to accelerate installations of renewables to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2070.

The corporate power-purchase agreement (PPA) market in the South Asian nation will expand from 12 gigawatts in 2023 to 100 gigawatts by the end of the decade, the Japanese trading house forecast in 2024.

Sumitomo has already secured around 10 PPAs with Japanese firms operating in India, the spokesperson said. The Japanese company has a 49 per cent stake in AMPIN C&I Power with AMPIN Energy holding the rest. BLOOMBERG