Hindustan Zinc to Take 26% Stake in Group Firm Serentica Renewables for Rs 350 Crore

Hindustan Zinc has revealed in a regulatory filing before the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that it has signed a power delivery agreement with Serentica Renewables India 4 Pvt Ltd for the delivery of renewable power to the company on a long-term basis.

Hindustan Zinc is a Vedanta group company. Serentica Renewables is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) registered and headquartered in Gurgaon for the supply power over a long-term to the company. It is also an affiliate of Sterlite Power Transmission Limited, the transmission arm of the Vedanta group. The mining firm said that the delivery of the renewable energy will be upto the capacity of 200 MW. The project funding will be on 70:30 debt-to-equity basis.

Hindustan Zinc said in the filing, ”26 per cent of equity will be held by company in the Serentica Renewables India 4 Private Limited…The remaining equity in the Serentica Renewables India 4 Private Limited will be held by affiliated companies.”

”The equity infusion of Rs 350 crore in the Serentica Renewables India 4 Private Limited will be made at par, in accordance with the Investment Agreement,” added Hindustan Zinc.

The tariff rate agreed has been independently benchmarked by a third party with reference to prevailing market tariff for renewable energy power and a cost-plus model prescribed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Under the terms of agreement, Serentica Renewables will be developing captive power projects in different parts of India as per suitable locations. The RE player will also commission the projects in two years of signing the pact.

Pushed by a need to clean their operations for environmental projection through reduced carbon emissions, Vedanta Ltd announced in April this year that the group will be sourcing 580 MW of renewable energy for its operations in India through a Power Delivery Agreement (PDA) with Sterlite Power affiliated SPVs. The group is bullish on solar, wind and storage solutions to power the requirements of capacity expansion at Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Jharsuguda, Balco and Hindustan Zinc.