Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Genus Power Infrastructures have agreed to set up a joint venture platform to fund smart metering projects and have committed to invest $2 billion for the initial pipeline.

An affiliate of GIC is also investing up to ₹519 crore in Genus Power, which will be preferentially issuing convertible warrants to the wealth fund. After conversion, GIC will hold 15 per cent stake in Genus Power. The warrants are being issued at ₹112.88 each and will be converted 18 months from the date of allotment.

Under the terms of the agreement, GIC will hold 74 per cent in the platform and the remaining 26 per cent stake will be held by Genus Power. The JV platform will be bidding for advanced metering infrastructure service providers’ concessions and Genus Power will be the exclusive supplier to the platform for smart meters and associated services.

The company said this was one of the largest transactions in the smart metering segment and “with these transactions, Genus would supplement its manufacturing and execution prowess with access to capital. Genus will scale up the deployment of energy “smart meters” across India, supporting energy security and transition through grid optimisation and efficiency.”

India has set up the National Smart Metering Project and has a plan to install 25 crore meters by 2025 with an estimated investment of $30 billion.

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 “GIC’s investment attests to the strong prospects of smart metering space, our manufacturing prowess and execution track record,” Genus Power’s joint MD Jitendra Agarwal said in a statement.

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