'Hero Future may go public in the next market upcycle'

Hero Future Energies will look at several options to raise funds over the next two-three years, including the launch of an initial public offering (IPO), chairman and managing director (CMD) Rahul Munjal said.

- Rituraj Baruah

In an interview, Munjal said the $450 million raised from parent Hero Group and KKR in December would support the company for the next few years, and the company will plan new fundraises, including private investments and accessing public markets. He, however, added that the company would look at launching an IPO when the market hits the next upcycle or a bull run. Currently, the company has power projects of 2.2 gigawatts (GW) capacity, of which 1.2GW is solar, 0.53GW is wind, and 0.47GW is hybrid capacity. Of its total operations in India, 2.06GW pertains to the utility space, and 0.14GW is in the C&I (commercial and industrial). Munjal further said the company’s first project in Vietnam is likely to be commissioned soon.Edited excerpts:

What has been the trajectory for Hero Future Energies in India’s energy transition journey?

The trajectory is something like megawatts to gigawatts. The first time when we all went (for projects), we were doing 20-40MW projects. Today, we are very happily doing a gigawatt (GW) project.

So the point is, the industry has changed, size has changed, and scale has changed. Electricity companies have accepted this (renewable) energy as a good form of energy. They did not like renewables in the beginning. They said it’s intermittent. It’s expensive. But four-five years ago, when the price reached ₹2-3 per unit, they said it was not expensive anymore.