Grasim Industries on Monday announced that its subsidiary Aditya Birla Renewables (ABReN) will acquire Shell’s India renewable energy platform, Sprng Energy, in a transaction with an enterprise value of Rs 17,200 crore ($1.8 billion), marking one of the largest renewable energy acquisitions in India.
The Aditya Birla Group is believed to have lined up around Rs 15,000 crore of acquisition financing from State Bank of India and Axis Bank ahead of the transaction.
The acquisition, to be executed through an agreement with Shell subsidiary Solenergi Power, will be funded through a mix of debt and equity from Grasim and funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners, part of BlackRock. The equity consideration payable to Shell will be determined after adjustments for debt, cash and other customary items.
The deal underscores the accelerating consolidation in India’s renewable energy sector. Rather than building long-gestation greenfield projects, large industrial groups are increasingly opting to buy scale. For the Aditya Birla Group, the acquisition significantly accelerates its renewable energy ambitions at a time when demand for clean power is rising rapidly from manufacturing, data centres and corporate decarbonisation.
The acquisition will increase ABReN’s renewable portfolio to 9.3 GWp from about 4.3 GWp, taking it close to its near-term target of 10 GW and positioning it among India’s largest renewable energy companies. It also gives the group a ready portfolio of operational assets, projects under construction, transmission connectivity and long-term power purchase agreements, saving years of project development and land acquisition.
Sprng Energy has about 5 GW of contracted renewable capacity, including around 3.3 GW operational and 1.7 GW under construction, spanning solar, wind, hybrid and round-the-clock renewable power projects across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
“This acquisition brings together two highly complementary platforms and puts us on course to scale beyond 20 GW in the coming years,” Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, said.
Aryaman Vikram Birla, director, Aditya Birla Group and ABReN, said the acquisition “rapidly accelerates our ambition to build a national-scale renewable energy platform” by combining Sprng’s utility-scale portfolio with ABReN’s commercial and industrial business. He said the group had almost achieved its 10 GW target ahead of schedule and was now aiming to double capacity over the next few years.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of calendar year 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
The acquisition ranks among the largest renewable energy deals in India, though it trails Adani Green Energy’s acquisition of SB Energy India in 2021, valued at about $3.5 billion (around Rs 26,000 crore), and ONGPL’s purchase of Ayana Renewable Power earlier this year for about $2.3 billion (Rs 19,500 crore).
The sale process attracted interest from KKR, Actis, a NIIF-Temasek consortium and Sembcorp before narrowing to the Aditya Birla Group and KKR. Although the deal was announced after market hours, Grasim Industries shares closed 2.73% lower at Rs 3,126 on the NSE on Monday.