Spriha Srivastava

Gortahile Windfarm, which owns and operates a 20-megawatt project in County Laois in Ireland, has been acquired by a fund managed by BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners. The fund, which has a target size of €405m, aims to acquire additional wind generation assets in Ireland over a course of its investment period.

The firm is backing power developer Moser Baer, as part of its plans to reportedly invest up to $3bn in India over the next five years.

An ambitious investment of $2.5trn by 2020 will be made across 19 infrastructure sectors in the state of Gujarat, located in the western part of India. The state government is also considering setting up an equity fund of over $1bn in order to fund infrastructure projects at initial stages.

The London-based private equity firm has approached the European Investment Bank (EIB) for €50m in financing for its second renewable energy fund, which is targeting €500m in total.

In a recent survey by a London-based consultancy, infrastructure tops the list as the most favoured asset class for institutional investors. Nearly 40% of surveyed investors say they will increase their infrastructure allocation over the next three years.

India has decided to set up a fund worth $11bn to accelerate the growth of its infrastructure, for which it is seeking strong private sector participation. A five-year road programme is also dependent on attracting private sector funding.