Adani makes its first hydro bet

Getting energized

- Manish Joshi

Shares of Adani Power Ltd rose 4% to ₹634 apiece on Monday after the company announced a joint venture (JV) with Bhutan's state-owned utility Druk Green Power Corp. to build a 570 MW hydroelectric project at Wangchhu. Adani will hold a 49% stake in the JV, which will see an initial investment of ₹6,000 crore. Since its holding is below 50%, the JV's financials will not be consolidated line by line but would reflect in Adani's net profit as share in JV.

The project's initial capacity may appear modest versus Adani's 18.1 GW thermal capacity, the largest among private players in India. But it is Adani's first hydro power venture, and aligned with its goal of setting up 5,000 MW of hydro power capacity in Bhutan.