Global private equity firms Macquarie, Actis, Sembcorp and strategic investors such as Serentica Renewables and JSW Group are evaluating bidding for a 50% stake in Malaysian energy firm Gentari’s India business, three people aware of the development said. The first round of bidding is expected towards the end of this month.
“There are half a dozen private equity and strategic investors who are keen to bid,” one of the three people cited above said.
Gentari, which operates in renewable energy, EV charging networks and green hydrogen sectors in India, is seeking an enterprise valuation of $2-2.5 billion, the person cited above said on the condition of anonymity. However, due to heavy debt, the equity value of the asset stands at $600-700 million.
A Macquarie spokesperson declined to comment, while queries emailed to Gentari, JSW Group, Sembcorp, Serentica and Actis remained unanswered.
Gentari’s plan to sell the India business follows the larger playbook adopted by many global energy majors, which have either exited the country or are looking to do so, given high valuations and growth potential in India. In June last year, Economic Times reported that the Malaysian company had appointed Standard Chartered Bank to scout for buyers.
India is among the key growth markets for Gentari, the global clean energy solutions unit of Malaysian energy major Petronas. It has an Indian renewable energy portfolio of about 7GW, including projects under development, making it a mid-sized player. For context, renewable energy market leader Adani Green Energy Ltd has an operational renewable energy portfolio of 17.2GW as of December 2025.
In early 2025, the company acquired 1.6GW solar and wind energy assets from Brookfield Asset Management 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 AM Green to jointly invest in green ammonia.
Gentari’s India operations are currently led by Sharad Pungalia. Before Gentari, Pungalia was managing director and chief executive at Amplus Solar, a renewable energy platform serving commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. Gentari acquired and merged Amplus with it in 2019.
Despite hitting record installation milestones, India’s green energy sector continues to face troubles: Mint has earlier reported on nearly 44GW of awarded projects remaining stranded without signed power purchase agreements, cash-strapped discoms shunning solar due to stagnant demand, and record-low exchange prices that have crashed to near-zero levels during peak generation hours.
Many companies in the renewable and energy space owned by global private equity firms or strategic investors like Vibrant Energy, Statkraft Group and Zelestra have either sold or are looking to sell their India portfolio. There is a lot of interest among private equity and domestic strategic buyers in the renewable energy space. India aims for net-zero emissions by 2070, with key targets of 500GW renewable energy in India by 2030, and a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions intensity.
India’s renewable energy capacity grew from 78GW in FY15 to 199GW in FY24, with solar accounting for 80% of new capacity. To meet its 500GW target by 2030, 90GW is under construction and 44GW in development. The government plans to tender 50GW annually until FY28. This is likely to see a lot of mergers and acquisitions, PE investments and consolidation in the near term, experts predict.
