Cabinet approves equity infusion of Rs 1,500 crore in IREDA

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved equity infusion of Rs 1,500 crore in Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) on Wednesday . "This equity infusion will help in employment generation of approximately 10,200 jobs-year and CO2 equivalent emission reduction of approximately 7.49 million Tonnes CO₂ per year," IREDA said in an official press release.

The additional equity infusion of Rs 1,500 crore by the government will enable IREDA to lend an additional Rs 12,000 crore approximately to the renewable energy (RE) sector, thus facilitating the debt requirement of RE of additional capacity of approximately 3,500-4,000 MW.

It will also enhance IREDA's net worth which will help it in additional RE financing, thus contributing better to the RE installation targets set out by the government. The liquidity infusion will improve the capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) and facilitate the PSU's lending and borrowing operations, said IREDA.

Commenting on the development, IREDA CMD Pardip Kumar Das said, "We are immensely thankful to the government and the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) without whose support this wouldn't have been possible." He also underlined that "despite the pandemic situation, IREDA has reported all-time high annual profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 570 crore in FY 2020-21 and all-time high half-yearly profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 299.90 crore in FY 2021-22. With the collective and focussed efforts of team IREDA, we are quite confident to achieve a five-time growth target in the next five years."

Das also said, "IREDA has been rated 'Excellent' for MoU for FY 2020-21 with a score of 96.93, which was 'Fair' in FY 2019-20 with a score of 45.83. This truly indicates IREDA's ability to translate a global pandemic situation into an opportunity and to adapt to unforeseen transitions. Therefore, IREDA is geared-up for its IPO in the near future."

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