The Gentari stake sale gets cracking. Will Actis, Macquarie and Sembcorp bid?
MUMBAI
: Global private equity firms Macquarie, Actis, Sembcorp and strategic investors such as Serentica Renewables and JSW Group are considering bidding for a 50% stake in Malaysian energy company Gentari’s India business, three people aware of the development said. The first round of tenders is expected to be held towards the end of this month.
“There are half a dozen private equity and strategic investors willing to bid,” said one of the three people cited above.
Gentari, which operates in renewable energy, EV charging networks and green hydrogen sectors in India, is seeking a corporate valuation of $2-2.5 billion, the person cited above said on condition of anonymity. However, due to heavy debt, the equity value of the asset remains around $600-700 million.
A Macquarie spokesman declined to comment, while emailed questions to Gentari, JSW Group, Sembcorp, Serentica and Actis went unanswered.
Gentari’s plan to sell its India business follows the larger strategy adopted by many global energy giants that have either exited the country or are considering doing so, given the high valuations and growth potential in India. In June last year, the Economic Times reported that the Malaysian company had appointed Standard Chartered Bank to search for buyers.
India is among the key growth markets for Gentari, the global clean energy solutions unit of Malaysian energy giant Petronas. It has an Indian renewable energy portfolio of around 7 GW, including projects under development, making it a mid-sized player. In this context, renewable energy market leader Adani Green Energy Ltd has an operational renewable energy portfolio of 17.2 GW as of December 2025.
The company acquired 1.6 GW of solar and wind energy assets from Brookfield Asset Management in early 2025 in a deal valued at $900 million.
Apart from its dominant renewable energy business, Gentari also operates a mobile-based app for EV charging in India and has partnered with AM Green to co-invest in green ammonia.
Gentari’s India operations are currently led by Sharad Pungalia. Prior to Gentari, Pungalia served as managing director and general manager at Amplus Solar, a renewable energy platform serving commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. Gentari acquired and merged with Amplus in 2019.
Despite reaching record installation milestones, India’s green energy sector continues to face problems: Mint had previously reported that around 44GW of tendered projects remain deadlocked without signed power purchase agreements, cash-strapped companies are staying away from solar due to sluggish demand, and record-low foreign exchange prices have fallen to near-zero levels during peak generation hours.
Many companies in the renewable energy and energy space owned by global private equity firms or strategic investors such as Vibrant Energy, Statkraft Group and Zelestra have either sold or are considering selling their India portfolios. There is great interest among private capital and domestic strategic buyers in the renewable energy field. India targets net zero emissions by 2070, with key targets of 500 GW of renewable energy in India by 2030 and a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emission intensity.
India’s renewable energy capacity increased from 78 GW in FY15 to 199 GW in FY24; 80% of the new capacity was generated by solar energy. To reach the 500 GW target by 2030, 90 GW is under construction and 44 GW is under development. The government plans to tender 50 GW annually by FY28. Experts predict that the near term is likely to see a lot of mergers and acquisitions, PE investments and consolidations.
