BII’s $75 million bet on Blueleaf to power India’s 500 GW green energy goal

India’s renewable energy ambitions have received a major boost with British International Investments (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, committing $75 million to Asia’s Blueleaf Energy for developing clean energy infrastructure in the country. The deal, signed in Singapore, is expected to help accelerate India’s target of achieving 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable capacity by 2030.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Shilpa Kumar, Managing Director and India Head at BII, said the investment in Blueleaf Energy is significant on several counts. “It directly supports the country’s ambition of achieving 500 gigawatts of renewables by 2030,” she said. “We also like the team running this — they are committed to executing these projects.”

Kumar added that the nature of the capital being deployed makes the deal even more relevant for India’s green transition. “The kind of capital we’ve come in with is really mezzanine debt, which, honestly, in India, is a space where you don’t see much commercially available capital,” she noted.

The $75 million facility will enable Blueleaf Energy to develop renewable projects that are expected to generate over 3.2 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, while avoiding about 3.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

BII, which has a $2.2 billion portfolio in India, has made climate finance a key focus area. “Out of our portfolio of $2.2 billion, we’ve invested a substantial part in climate finance,” Kumar said, adding that BII’s broader objective is to support private capital and entrepreneurs in generation, transmission, and distribution through innovative financing structures.

With India emerging as one of the world’s fastest-growing renewable markets, BII’s investment underscores its long-term commitment to financing sustainable growth. “We think this is a significant deal, and we do hope that with this investment, we’ll see many more such deals in the market,” Kumar said.

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