Azure Power Awarded Most Sustainable Company in the Solar Energy Industry as Part of World Finance Magazine's Sustainability Awards 2020

Azure Power, a leading solar power producer in India, has been awarded the Most Sustainable Company in the Solar Energy Industry by World Finance Magazine. Azure Power received the award for their effective environmental, social and governance pillars, and operating their business while meeting sustainable needs. Azure Power has cut emissions, reduced water consumption and ensured their physical waste is disposed properly and with as little carbon footprint as possible. Over the years, Azure Power has avoided over 5.2 million tons of CO2 equivalents since inception, realized 50% savings last year in water consumption per unit of electricity generated and created over 4,300 local jobs since inception in the remote communities we operate in.

Through Azure Power's corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, they have made a positive impact on the communities they operate in and improve livelihood among rural households through various activities around the thematic areas of skill development, water and education. Their core values of honesty, excellence, entrepreneurship and social responsibility reinforce the approach to providing energy in a sustainable way.

Commenting on this award, Mr. Ranjit Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Azure Power, said "For us, sustainability is the essence of our business and lies at the heart of our value proposition. At Azure, we continue to work towards sustainable economic development across our communities to contribute to a better society."

World Finance provides coverage and analysis of the financial industry, international business and global economy. The magazine is now  introducing sustainability awards to businesses that have shown admirable commitment to sustainability and are making the business world a much greener place. All of World Finance's sustainability awards winners are announced at https://www.worldfinance.com/awards/sustainability-awards-2020.

About Azure Power

Azure Power (NYSE: AZRE) is a leading independent solar power producer with a pan-India portfolio over 7 gigawatts. Azure Power developed India's first private utility scale solar project in 2009 and has been at the forefront in the sector as a developer, constructor and operator of solar projects since its inception in 2008. With its in-house engineering, procurement and construction expertise and advanced in-house operations and maintenance capability, Azure Power manages the entire development and operation process, providing low-cost solar power solutions to customers throughout India. For more information, visit: www.azurepower.com.

India's Largest Solar Energy Startup Azure Power Raises $185 Mn from Canada's CDPQ

New Delhi headquartered Solar energy company, Azure Power, which is one of the country’s largest independent solar power producers with a solar portfolio of over 3 Giga Watt spread across 23 states, has raised around $185 million primary capital through an equity offering, reported Business Line.

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a Quebec, Canada-based institutional investor that manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs, has contributed $100 million (around ₹730 crore) to the company’s capital raising which increased the fund’s stake in the company to 40%.

Notably, this is a second investment by CDPQ into Azure as earlier in 2016 it had invested $140 million in the company before going public in October of same year. So far, the company had raised a total of about $353.5 million in funding over 11 rounds including this one.

Apart from CDPQ, IFC Asset Management and Helion Venture Partners are among the company’s large shareholders.

On October 12, 2016, Azure Power launched an Initial Public Offering (IPO), enabling the first listing of Indian energy assets on the New York Stock Exchange. With this, Azure Power also became the first renewable energy company to IPO in the US since August 2015.

[caption id="attachment_126884" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Inderpreet Wadhwa - Founder & CEO of AZure Power[/caption]

Founded by Inderpreet Wadhwa in 2008, Azure Power sells energy to government utilities, and independent industrial and commercial customers in India. Prior to founding Azure Power, Inderpreet served as a vice president of Loyalty Lab and as a senior director of Oracle Corporation. Additionally, Inderpreet has been a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG) to the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Inderpreet received his bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering in 1994 from Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab, India. He also graduated from Haas School of Business at University of California Berkeley in 2002.

Since its inception in 2008, Azure has built India’s first private utility scale solar PV power plant in 2009 and the implementation of the first MW scale rooftop project under the smart city initiative in 2013.

The company has recently won 6 MW solar project of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) auctioned by Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency - OREDA.

Azure Power has a target to grow its operational portfolio to 5GW by 2020.

The company’s revenue for the quarter eneded June 30, 2018 stood at ₹242 crore, up 29 per cent from ₹187 crore during the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Net income for the quarter was ₹2.9 crore as against ₹20 crore primarily due to foreign exchange losses due to the rupee’s depreciation against the dollar, the company said. It has issued a guidance for revenue growth of around 22 per cent to $143-151 million for FY18 from $118 million in Fy18.

In August this year, India's largest natural gas marketer Gail (India) Limited (GAIL) had sought shareholder approval to build solar power plants in the country as it looks to diversify its portfolio beyond gas and petrochemicals.

In the same month, Hyderabad based Solar-DC solutions startup, Cygni Energy Private Limited, had raised funds of $6.4 Million through a combination of Equity and Debt round led by Endiya Partners and IndusInd Bank.

In June, an another Hyderabad-based solar energy solution startup Fourth Partner Energy had raised $70 million in Series B funding from The Rise Fund, which is a global impact investment fund founded by TPG Growth founder and managing partner Bill McGlashan, U2 lead singer and activist Bono.

Prior to that, Gurgaon-based rooftop focused solar startup, ZunRoof, had raised an angel funding of Rs 1.66 crore ($0.25mn) from i3N, Paipal Ventures’ Ajith Pai, Gaurav Gupta, Asia Director, Dalbergr and a bunch of IIT Kharagpur alumni based in US.