Indian Rooftop Solar Companies Hunt for Equity in this Fast Growing Cash Guzzling Sector
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While a lot has been said about the debt financing needs of India’s rapidly growing solar industry, little has been said about the equity financing needs which is also a huge amount. Assuming that building out 100 GW of solar capacity will need around $100 billion in total capital, the equity needs of this sector will be around $20 billion. This is a massive amount and large development and pension funds won’t be providing this money. Equity capital is considered more risky and a lot of funds do not allow equity funding as part of their mandates. So who will pony up this equity capital.
It is also difficult for the solar industry to generate profits fast enough to replenish the equity capital that will be required. The returns in this hyper competitive industry are quite low and the cash flows are spread over 25 years making quick cash generation quite difficult. Some of the large companies such as Amplus have tied up with large foreign funds for a line of both equity and credit capital, while others such as CleanMax are looking towards high net worth individuals to provide the equity capital.
Also read How should I Finance my Rooftop Solar PV System/ Project in India
However, there are tons of small companies that are coming up in the country to take advantage of the massive growth expected in rooftop solar. It is estimated that the rooftop solar capacity in the country will grow from 1 GW now to around 10-20 GW over the next 5-6 years. While ADB and World Bank have announced loans of almost $1 billion to be given to this segment, equity capital is notoriously difficult to get.
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