Indian wind energy firm plans to raise $230 million

Indian wind power company Suzlon Energy Ltd. plans to raise up to 10 billion rupees ($230 million) through an initial public offer (IPO) of shares, bankers and shareholders said this week. "The filing is expected by the end of this month," said one source, who declined to be identified. Sources said the offer of fresh shares would represent 25 percent of Suzlon's expanded equity capital, valuing the company at as much as 40 billion rupees. The private equity arm of Citigroup Inc. and investment firm ChrysCapital jointly own about 15 percent of the company. Morgan Stanley's Indian unit and Bombay-based Enam Financial Consultants are lead book runners and CLSA's local arm is co-bookrunner for the IPO.

Another banker helping the IPO said the offer was expected to be launched in July. The company has annual sales of between 7 billion and 8 billion rupees, he added. Wind power has been gaining currency due to fears of global warming and rising energy prices. Worldwide, installed capacity rose by some 8,000 megawatt (MW) last year, to nearly 48,000 MW, one-third of that in Germany. Denmark's Vestas is the world's biggest wind-turbine maker. At end-January, India had an installed wind energy capacity of 2,488.13 MW, which accounted for just 2 percent of the total power capacity of the energy-starved nation.

Coal-fired thermal power stations account for about 65 percent of the total capacity. According to industry estimates, India needs an additional 100,000 MW of power in the next 10 next years with an investment of $100 billion to meet soaring demand of an expanding economy. India has allowed foreign companies to invest in fully owned operations in the energy sector to overcome a peak electricity shortage of about 12.2 percent.