Mahindra Susten, the renewable energy arm of the Mahindra Group, is set to invest Rs 21,000 crore over the next five years to develop a renewable energy asset portfolio of nearly 5.5 GW. With its 39% partner Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, the company aims to achieve this peak capacity in four to five years, according to Managing Director Deepak Thakur.

Mahindra Susten has designed a business plan that has been approved by its shareholders, with a focus on expanding its renewable energy portfolio. This includes storage projects and round-the-clock power projects. In January, Mahindra Group and Ontario Teachers co-sponsored the Sustainable Energy Infra Trust (SEIT), an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) holding assets in the renewable energy space. SEIT raised primary capital of Rs 1,365 crore through the initial offer of units to support the Rs 21,000 crore growth capital.

The company plans to fund its expansion using an asset flip strategy, which involves selling projects after completion to generate capital for new projects. This strategy allows the company to avoid heavy debt burdens, with debt moving to the InvIT every three years.

In addition to its ambitious plans, Mahindra Susten recently entered the hybrid renewable energy segment with a Rs 1,200 crore, 150 MW solar wind energy project in Maharashtra. The project comprises 101 MW of wind capacity and 52 MW of solar capacity and is expected to generate 460 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean energy annually, offsetting 420,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Mahindra Susten began as an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company building solar projects for other developers. However, six years ago, the Mahindra Group decided to shift its focus to becoming a renewable energy developer and stopped taking on third-party EPC business. Since then, Mahindra Susten has participated in tenders and built approximately 1,540 MWp of projects.