IREDA to stay focused on renewables; Eyes more QIP as e-mobility recovery picks up

The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is sticking to its exclusive focus on the renewable energy (RE) sector and has no plans to diversify into other areas.“We are only in one sector—that is renewable energy—and we are the king in that,” said Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman and Managing Director of IREDA, in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Das said the agency would continue to channel all future capital—including equity infusions and debt—into the RE space, balancing its portfolio between traditional and emerging technologies. “76% of our book is in de-risked, traditional RE assets, and around 21–22% is in new and emerging segments,” he said, noting that this strategy helps the organisation maintain a net interest margin (NIM) of 3.7% despite rising competition.

IREDA recently raised ₹2,005 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP), completing the first tranche of a potential ₹5,000 crore raise. The remaining dilution will be considered at the right time, factoring in both market conditions and internal requirements.
Speaking about the Gensol Engineering case, where IREDA has an exposure of ₹729 crore, Das called it a “result of the promoters’ misgovernance” and said it was unrelated to the broader health of the e-mobility sector. The agency has already moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and an interim resolution professional has begun work. “Running a car is not that difficult, unlike running a thermal project,” Das said, expressing confidence that assets can be recovered in a few months and provisioning reversed.In contrast, Das said the Andhra Pradesh PPA issue, which turned into an NPA, was due to a policy decision where tariffs were slashed by half and even the reduced amount was not paid. He called it a sectoral and state-level issue that has impacted revenues and cash flow.

Despite these setbacks, Das was emphatic about IREDA’s overall financial health. “In the last 38 years, we have financed more than ₹1.62 lakh crore, and our asset quality is so robust that the cumulative write-off so far is just ₹135 crore,” he said.

Das also reiterated IREDA’s long-term role as the go-to financier for India’s green transition. While traditional lenders are now entering the space, IREDA’s mandate is to support new and emerging RE technologies from inception to maturity.

Watch accompanying video for entire conversation.