British International Investment

Green Growth Feeder Fund Pte. Ltd

IndiaSouth AsiaInfrastructure

The Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) is India’s first dedicated climate-change fund.

This investment was made when British International Investment was named CDC Group.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

With our investment, the fund will finance the development of between six and eight ‘green infrastructure’ companies in India. The fund's portfolio of renewable energy, e-mobility, and energy efficiency companies will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; its wastewater company will reduce freshwater consumption; and its waste management company will improve the sustainability of natural resources. Furthermore, as a pioneer in the green infrastructure space in India, it aims to play a catalytic effect in the market by proving that investors can earn returns whilst directly contributing to climate objectives.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact
  • Avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by improving energy efficiency and increasing the share of renewable energy generation (SDG targets 7.2, 7.3 & 13A)
  • Reduce freshwater consumption and waste through improved water-use efficiency, wastewater and solid waste management (SDG targets 6.3, 6.4 & 12.5)

How?

Primary Secondary

  • Direct: Investments in utility-scale and commercial and industrial renewable energy generation (26% of the target portfolio, equity commitment to add 326MW of greenfield solar PV capacity), e-mobility solutions (13%), energy efficiency (10%), energy storage (10%), and bio-CNG (2%).

  • Direct: Investments in water desalination (7% of the target portfolio), sewage treatment (5%), solid waste management (6%) and waste to energy (2%) facilities to reduce freshwater consumption and improve the sustainability of water and natural resource management.
  • Catalysing markets: If successful, the fund can contribute to creating a track record in those emerging sectors in India, i.e. e-mobility, water efficiency and waste management – thereby supporting the demonstration of the resource efficiency market. Early signposts of success would be commercial returns particularly for these platforms. In the longer term (5-10 years), success would be increased investment activity by commercial investors in this space.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Planet

Global

N/A
Planet

India (all states)

54 per cent of India is classified as severely water-stressed and the supply deficit is forecast to reach 50% by 2030. Water stress is highest in northern and western states.

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

N/A

  • Depth: The portfolio can cumulatively avoid ~12.4 million tonnes CO2eq emissions based on the current investment strategy (equivalent to the emissions avoidance of ~340MW of solar PV capacity in India over 25 years).

  • Depth: The portfolio can cumulatively avoid ~770 million m3 of freshwater consumption (equivalent to the per capita domestic consumption of ~625k people over 25 years) and manage 13.4 million tonnes of solid waste (equivalent to the annual waste generation of ~2.7 million people over 25 years).

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: We have a high degree of confidence that the fund will be unable to raise sufficient capital from commercial sources alone.
  • Value additionality: We are supporting the fund manager to improve environmental, social and business integrity practices, to mitigate high inherent environmental, social and business integrity risks.

Grid score

Grid Score

To help us direct our investments, we previously used a tool called the Development Impact Grid. It scored investments out of four, based on two factors: the difficulty of investing in a country and the propensity of the sector to generate employment. This tool was used for investments until the end of 2021. Since 2022 it has been replaced by the Impact Score.

3.04

Risk

Execution Risk
  • Relates to the probability of the fund not reaching its target size, or investments not being successful and not delivering on impact and commercial expectations particularly in more nascent segments, which would affect both the direct and market thesis. At the fund level, our participation will help mitigate this risk by enabling the fund to reach its target size, which we are confident would not occur otherwise.
Alignment Risk
  • Relates to the risk of the fund not achieving the intended portfolio allocation/under deploying to emerging climate segments beyond renewable energy and undertaking a larger proportion of Secondary Investments, which would reduce the fund’s and consequently Our own contribution. However, the fund intends to invest a relatively high proportion of primary capital and has developed pipeline opportunities in more nascent segments.

Understanding our impact information (PDF)

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We are working closely with the fund manager to improve their environmental and social risk management system, and environmental and social capacity at the fund through trainings and engagement through committees.

Understanding our approach to environmental and social risk (PDF)

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to [email protected] or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at [email protected]

  • Key facts
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
    :
    D4197
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
    :
    South Asia
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Infrastructure

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.
    Investment type :
    Fund
    Start date :
    October 2021
    Amount :
    $70m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Fund Manager:
    EverSource Capital
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
    :
    Singapore
    Climate finance type:
    Mitigation
    2X Gender Finance

    Indicates whether the investment is ‘2X qualified’ using the 2X Challenge criteria. You can find out more here. It only applies to investments made from 2018 onwards, when the 2X Challenge was first launched.
    :
    Fully qualified

    Click here to read our data guidance

Investments made by this fund into companies:

For further information about these companies, visit https://eversourcecapital.com/

Investment name Country Region Sector Start date Status
Accretive India South Asia Infrastructure June 2022 Active
Ayana Renewable Power India South Asia Infrastructure March 2019 Active
EverEnviro Waste Management Private Limited India South Asia Infrastructure September 2019 Active
GreenCell Mobility Private Limited India South Asia Infrastructure October 2019 Active
Kathari Water Management Private Limited India South Asia Infrastructure March 2021 Active
Lithium Urban Technologies Pvt. Ltd.(Lithium) India South Asia Infrastructure March 2022 Active
Radiance Renewables Private Limited India South Asia Infrastructure November 2018 Active

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