New Delhi, July 3 -- Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, one of the largest international institutional investors in India with its significant public markets portfolio alone valued at over $20 billion, has scored a multi-bagger from an Indian group it backed as part of a larger multi-billion-dollar partnership.
GIC has offloaded nearly three-fourths of its 15% stake in Genus Power Infrastructures Ltd via a secondary market transaction. It encashed Rs 953 crore, or a little over $100 million.
This comes three years after GIC joined hands with the Jaipur-based smart meter manufacturer to invest $2 billion for projects, amid renewed investor interest in the sector.
India's power distribution sector has been impacted by delayed repayment cycles leading to mounting debt amid other regulatory concerns. But the situation seems to be changing, with several private equity players eyeing a vast potential in the smart meter manufacturing space.
GIC had struck a deal to hold about a 74% stake and Genus Power picked up the remaining 26% in the joint venture. Further, GIC, through another affiliate, invested about Rs 519 crore into Genus through stock warrants, representing about a 15% stake in the smart meter manufacturer. It has now sold a bulk of the stake it picked up in the publicly listed company.
GIC has realised an internal rate of return (IRR) of 42% on a first-in, first-out basis in rupee terms, according to VCCircle estimates. In dollar terms, its annualised return is pegged at 35%. Commercial alternative investors chase 20% and 15% IRR in local currency and US dollars. Sovereign funds are relatively more conservative in their returns targets.
Genus manufactures and provides smart meters and services to utilities (power, gas and water). It also delivers other solutions as an Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (AMISP) for power utilities and distribution companies.
The Indian government had rolled out smart metering projects nationally last year under the new Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), with a planned installation of 250 million meters and $30 billion in investments by 2025.
But the industry has seen slower-than-anticipated rollout due to delays in tendering and testing approvals, difficulties in establishing direct debit billing mechanisms, and technical hurdles such as data validation and consumer indexing. In certain regions, public resistance also emerged, driven by concerns over data privacy and misinformation surrounding smart meter functionality.
To address these issues, the Ministry of Power had formally proposed a two-year extension of the RDSS scheme beyond its original deadline.
As of March 2025, out of approximately 23.9 million smart meters installed across India, 13.4 million were installed during 2024-25 alone.
Some other PE players interested in this space in India include I Squared Capital, Brookfield, Macquarie as well as Canadian pension funds Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, La Caisse, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
Genus Power has seen its revenue rocket nearly four times between FY24 and FY26 to touch Rs 4,751 crore with net profit rising seven-fold in the same period to Rs 587 crore. Its share price, however, has corrected by a third since hitting the peak at the fag end of 2024.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.