C&I segment emerges as lucrative for energy companies and investors

Leading names in the energy sector Tata Power, JSW Energy, ReNew, Hero Future Energies, and Sterlite Power have announced plans for a dedicated C&I business vertical

This report has been updated

Hyderabad-based Fourth Partner Energy (4PE) was started by three friends in 2010 with Rs 3 crore angel funding. The name mirrored their business idea — the fourth partner is the customer for whom 4PE would develop tailor-made green energy solutions. A major chunk of their customer base turned out to be the energy-guzzling commercial and industrial (C&I) sectors — retailers, carmakers, pharma companies, and manufacturing units.

4PE started out as a “distributed green energy supplier” at a time when solar power was just catching on in India with grid connected projects