Japanese Consortium to Invest $370 Mln in I Squared Capital’s India Natural Gas Platform

Reuters

15:37 JST, April 15, 2024

A Japanese consortium will invest $370 million to acquire a minority stake in a platform that invests in companies developing city gas distribution networks in India, global infrastructure investor I Squared Capital said on Monday.

The consortium of Osaka Gas, Sumitomo Corp and a Japanese government-private sponsored investment fund, will invest in Indian companies that develop and operate natural gas infrastructure, I Squared Capital said in a statement.

The platform, called the Natural Gas Transition Platform, has investments in last-mile city gas distribution businesses including THINK Gas and AG&P Pratham that are developing city gas infrastructure across 19 geographical areas covering 325,000 square kilometers, the statement said.

“The additional capital provided will be used to support the energy transition in India through the expansion of last-mile city gas distribution infrastructure,” said Harsh Agrawal, I Squared Capital’s senior partner for Asia Pacific.

I Squared Capital supports India’s aim to shift from more carbon-intensive fossil fuels to natural gas, where the country aims to boost the share of natural gas to 15% of its primary energy mix by 2030 from nearly 7% currently, he added.

The infrastructure investor said the platform will also increase investments to boost the consumption of renewable natural gas or biogas in India and the use of green hydrogen using the city gas network.

Headquartered in Miami, I Squared Capital has over $38 billion in assets under management and operates a portfolio of 82 companies globally in sectors including utilities, energy and digital infrastructure, according to its statement.