Bansal, an engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and an MBA graduate from IIM Calcutta, earlier worked at International Finance Corporation for seven years. Actis has also promoted Nicolas Escallon, another director in its energy infrastructure team, to the position of a partner.
According to a statement from Actis, Bansal “has played a key role in establishing Actis as a leading energy investor in India, providing leadership on sustainability. Abhishek was instrumental in setting up Actis’ first renewable energy business in India, Ostro Energy, which was sold in 2018 as the largest renewables deal in India till date.”
Actis has taken significant bets on India’s green economy, and plans to grow its renewable energy platform in India, Sprng Energy, to 2 gigawatt (GW) capacity. Actis has been present in this space and had earlier sold Ostro Energy Pvt. Ltd to ReNew Power Ventures in 2018 at an enterprise value of $1.5 billion.
“He (Bansal) has played a key role in establishing subsequent renewable energy businesses in India, including Sprng energy, which is targeting 2GW of capacity,” the statement said.
“Abhishek’s promotion recognizes the key role he has been playing in building our India energy business. India is a very important market for Actis where we plan to make large investments in the renewable sector, building on our investments and track record through Sprng and Ostro platforms,” added Sanjiv Aggarwal, partner, energy, Actis, in the statement.
Actis also plans to invest $850 million to build two green energy platforms for setting up grid-connected solar and wind power parks, and the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment respectively, as reported by Mint earlier.
“Abhishek has been instrumental in establishing Actis as one of the largest private capital investors in the global power sector. We are thrilled to welcome his leadership and insights into the partnership,” added Torbjorn Caesar, senior partner at Actis in the statement.
Actis has been bullish on India’s renewable energy industry.
Speaking at “Mint India Investment Summit” on 30 April, Bansal said that the pandemic’s impact has been benign on the investor’s portfolio and the renewables and road sectors. From a commercial viewpoint, Bansal said the investor’s receivables were better during the pandemic because a lot of power distribution companies were given loans by the government.
“We are now trying to expand beyond renewables. We will continue to invest very actively in renewable energy and transportation sectors such as road projects over the next five to 10 years,” Bansal then said.
Actis has also been eyeing acquisition opportunities in Indian clean energy space and is close to buying a majority stake in 500 megawatts of solar projects in India owned by Finland’s state-controlled power utility Fortum Oyj.