British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, today highlighted the significance of India as a strategically important market for climate finance and investments designed to secure inclusive growth.
BII’s first investment in India, PNG Venture Finance, dated back to 1987 and the DFI was an early backer of India’s tech industry in the late 1990s. Between 2020-2022, the DFI committed over $1 billion to pioneering Indian businesses.
Its portfolio in India is currently valued at nearly $2.2 billion, including over 290 businesses across sectors such as financial services, renewable energy, infrastructure, technology and food and agriculture.
BII is increasingly focusing its investments on combating the climate emergency. Last year, 46 per cent of its total investment by value was in climate finance. In India, BII invested over $300 million in climate finance last year including investments in renewable energy, electric mobility and sustainable agriculture.
That achievement is part of the DFI’s commitment to invest up to $1 billion into climate-related projects in India between 2022 and 2026. In total, BII invested about $1 billion in India over the last three years.
The second area of focus in in the Indian market for BII is around supporting inclusive growth, particularly in providing economic opportunities for women.
This week BII also launched its latest Inclusion in India report, a study looking into what impacts it has achieved. The report found that 71 per cent of study participants[1] said that their quality of life had improved due to the performance of BII’s investee companies.
The report also found that women have disproportionally benefited from BII’s investments in India. In total, over 447,000 jobs are directly supported by BII investee businesses in the country.
Chief Executive Officer, Nick O’Donohoe, said: “Climate finance is a particular focus of our activity in India. The fight against the climate emergency does not recognise national borders and we can deliver huge impact in India as the country strives to meet its net zero targets.”
“Whenever I visit one of our investee businesses in India, I am always amazed at their level of ambition, sense of purpose and commitment to creating a greener – and more inclusive – economy.”
“We’re evaluating exciting businesses in sectors such as bio-fuels, the circular economy, micro-enterprises lending, agriculture and agri-tech and other essential services as part of the vision for the 2030 Roadmap agreed between India and the UK.”
British International Investment has offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru, which are headed by Manav Bansal, Managing Director and Head of India.
Some recent milestones by BII-supported companies include:
- The launch of Crop Intelligence Model for India in collaboration with agri-tech investee Cropin and PepsiCo to provide insights on the crop health for local farmers
- A power purchase agreement signed by Hindalco Industries with Ayana Renewable to supply 100MW round-the-clock energy for greener aluminium manufacturing.
- A new passenger electric vehicle venture launched by leading Indian automotive group Mahindra & Mahindra
- A successful listing on NSE India and Bombay Stock Exchange by Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, which provides access to finance for micro, small and medium sized enterprises.
- A new model farm opened by dairy company in India, Akshayakalpa Organic, to promote sustainable farming.
- A successful pre-Series B fundraising of $33 million by Battery Smart, a battery swapping platform for electric two and three-wheelers
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Media contact
British International Investment: Andrew Murray-Watson | press@bii.co.uk
[1] The study was joined by 3,500 stakeholders from 25 investee companies in the portfolio.
