India’s clean-energy transformation is no longer about ambition.
It’s now about execution with two names defining that race: Adani Green Energy and Tata Power.
Both want to be at the heart of India’s renewable future. Both are investing billions.
But while one is building bigger, the other is building broader.
The big shift in India’s power play
India plans to reach 500 gigawatts (GW) of renewable capacity by 2030, nearly triple today’s levels. For corporate India, this has become the defining industrial opportunity of the decade, akin to the telecom boom of the 2000s.
Adani Green wants to be the country’s largest power generator, not just in renewables but across the board.
Tata Power wants to be the most diversified clean-energy utility, spanning generation, manufacturing, distribution and retail.
The difference may look subtle, but it isn’t.
The power they already hold
Adani Green ended FY25 with an installed capacity of 14.2 GW, up 30 % year-on-year after adding 3.3 GW of new renewable projects, the highest by any Indian company that year. Every megawatt it owns comes from renewables, making it India’s largest pure-play clean-energy producer.
Tata Power’s total capacity is 25.7 GW, almost double that of Adani Green, but only 44 % of it is renewable. Its mix includes thermal, hydro, solar and wind assets across multiple states.
While Adani Green focuses entirely on large-scale generation, Tata Power spans the entire electricity chain. This includes generation, transmission, distribution, rooftop solar and electric-vehicle (EV) charging.
The balance-sheet test
In the past few years, both behemoths have expanded fast.
Adani Green’s growth is built on debt.
Total borrowings stand around Rs 80,000 crore, translating into debt-to-equity near six times (6x).
Interest coverage sits at roughly 1.4 times. That is workable when cash flows are locked into 25-year power-purchase agreements (PPAs), but it leaves little room for error if global rates rise or refinancing slows.
Still, the company insists the structure is ring-fenced. Each project is financed separately with its own cash flows and security package. Broker estimates suggest Adani Green can safely take on another Rs 20,000–30,000 crore in project debt over the next three years, provided it keeps adding capacity at current margins.
Tata Power’s balance sheet looks sturdier.
Net debt is about Rs 74,000 crore, giving a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.8x, expected to fall by FY26.
Interest coverage is close to 2.4 times and improving as distribution and renewables deliver steadier earnings.
Even after a one-off US $490 million arbitration hit from a Russian mining venture, roughly 12 % of its net worth, the company’s leverage remains within comfort. Tata Power can absorb an additional Rs 15,000–20,000 crore in debt without straining coverage ratios, thanks to predictable regulated cash flows.
Financial scoreboard
Adani Green’s revenue in FY25 stood at Rs 11,212 crore. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at Rs 8,889 crore with an EBITDA margin of 79 %. Net profit was at about Rs 2,001 crore, translating into a net margin of 10 %.
The company’s Return on equity (ROE) came in around 14.6 %, supported by stable tariffs, while return on capital employed (ROCE) was lower at 8.7 % given the capital intensity of ongoing projects.
Tata Power’s scale is much larger, though margins are thinner due to its regulated and engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) businesses.
The power major’s FY25 revenue came in at Rs 65,478 crore. EBITDA stood at Rs 12,166 crore and profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 4,775 crore, implying an EBITDA margin of 19 %.
The ROE and ROCE came in at 11% and 10.8%, respectively.
On the valuation front, Adani Green trades at an expensive enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) multiple of 23.4x and a price-to-earnings (P/E) near 91x. This prices in flawless execution and access to cheap global capital.
Tata Power, by contrast, trades at about 11x EV/EBITDA and 30x P/E, offering steadier but slower growth.
The expansion wave
Adani Green’s future rests on one site and one idea: scale.
At Khavda in Gujarat, it is building the world’s largest hybrid renewable park, which includes 30 GW of solar and wind across 538 square kilometres of desert. So far 4.1 GW is operational; another 6–8 GW will go live each year until 2030.
The company is also adding pumped-hydro and battery-storage projects, aiming to supply round-the-clock green power. Its first corporate deal of selling renewable energy to Google’s data centre in Maharashtra marks a shift towards direct corporate supply.
Total investment planned: Rs 1.5–1.8 trillion over the next five years.
Tata Power’s expansion is more evenly spread.
Its Rs 13,000 crore Tirunelveli facility, with 4.3 GW each of solar-cell and module capacity, is already operational. This is the largest integrated solar-manufacturing plant in India.
The company plans Rs 60,000–Rs 70,000 crore of cumulative capital expenditure (capex) by 2030: adding 20 GW of clean capacity, modernising grids and expanding its EV-charging and rooftop-solar network that already covers 700 cities.
The aim is to lift renewables to over 70 % of its generation mix while doubling consumer reach.
What they aim to become
By 2030, Adani Green hopes to be the world’s largest renewable generator, controlling roughly one-tenth of India’s entire renewable capacity. Its challenge will be keeping leverage under check while executing the Khavda project on time and on cost.
Tata Power aims to be India’s most diversified green-energy utility. It wants to be a company that not only generates power but also manufactures panels, manages grids and runs charging stations. Its goal is to have 80–90 % of generation from clean sources and to double its consumer base through smart-grid expansion.
In conclusion
Adani Green is chasing scale at record speed; Tata Power is building endurance through integration.
Both are critical to India’s clean-energy story, but their financial structures could not be more different.
Adani’s future depends on cheap global capital and flawless project delivery.
Tata Power’s future depends on steady domestic cash flows and disciplined reinvestment.
By 2030, India will need both; the risk-taker and the stabiliser.
For investors, the choice comes down to temperament. Adani’s leverage-fuelled sprint or Tata Power’s measured climb.
Speed may win headlines, but stability tends to win credit cycles.
Note: We have relied on data from http://www.Screener.in throughout this article. Only in cases where the data was not available, have we used an alternate, but widely used and accepted source of information.
The purpose of this article is only to share interesting charts, data points and thought-provoking opinions. It is NOT a recommendation. If you wish to consider an investment, you are strongly advised to consult your advisor. This article is strictly for educative purposes only.
Manvi Aggarwal has been tracking the stock markets for nearly two decades. She spent about eight years as a financial analyst at a value-style fund, managing money for international investors. That’s where she honed her expertise in deep-dive research, looking beyond the obvious to spot value where others didn’t. Now, she brings that same sharp eye to uncovering overlooked and misunderstood investment opportunities in Indian equities. As a columnist for LiveMint and Equitymaster, she breaks down complex financial trends into actionable insights for investors.
Disclosure: The writer and his dependents do not hold the stocks discussed in this article. The website managers, its employee(s) and contributors/writers/authors of articles have or may have an outstanding buy or sell position or holding in the securities, options on securities or other related investments of issuers and/or companies discussed therein. The content of the articles and the interpretation of data are solely the personal views of the contributors/ writers/authors. Investors must make their own investment decisions based on their specific objectives, resources and only after consulting such independent advisors as may be necessary.