With expansion on mind, JSW Energy builds money purse, human capital

With a renewable-energy pipeline of 3.4 Gw and an eye on acquisition, Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Energy is building financial resources and looking to expand its workforce by 30 per cent, said a senior executive of the company.

In April, JSW Energy completed a fund raise of Rs 5,000 crore through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route.

In May, the company’s board approved an enabling resolution of raising another Rs 10,000 crore through various routes including QIPs and preferential allotment.

Pritesh Vinay, director (finance), said while the QIP provided for organic growth, the enabling resolution might be explored for acquisition.

“Of the installed solar and wind capacity (in India), more than 60 per cent of this has been built by platforms that have a financial sponsor as a principal shareholder. A lot of those fund lives are coming to an end and either already undergoing or will soon commence a sale process,” the executive said, adding there were six or seven processes that were under way.

“If we get a decent-size platform at a relatively fair valuation, which will be value-accurate for us, capital will not be in shortfall,” he said, explaining the reason for the enabling resolution for the Rs 10,000 crore fund raise.

In addition to keeping its finance kitty ready, JSW Energy is looking to hire about 800 employees this financial year.

Vinay said this would be the company’s highest ever hiring in a year. It is looking for people who have worked for five to 15 years.

For the other businesses JSW Energy is expanding into, the executive said production at its pilot green hydrogen unit would start next year.

For the battery-manufacturing segment, Vinay said: “We are in talks with a few potential technology partners.”

These would be Chinese partners, he added.