INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Anuja Tiwari, Mallika Anand, Pranjal Bhattacharya and Antra Shourya, AZB & Partners
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1. Market Trends 1.1 Energy and Infrastructure M&A Market The deal space in FY 2024–25 in India has been resil- ient against the backdrop of global policy uncertainty, the ongoing US tariff impositions, geopolitical unrest and other macroeconomic factors, including valua- tion concerns due to inflationary trends. However, there has been an overall improvement in deal vol- ume compared to the previous financial year, as India has witnessed a shift towards high-value strategic transactions in certain sectors – in particular, green energy (solar, wind and green hydrogen), oil and gas, and sustainable mobility. India’s commitment to green energy transition at the COP26 in Glasgow (with a goal of 50% of its energy demands to be met through renewable sources by 2030), the ever-increasing energy demands, and the infrastructure requirements of a developing economy have led to sector-focused inbound investments of significant deal value. Meanwhile, the sharp build-out in domestic renewa- bles – with falling solar equipment costs translating into competitive tariffs – has continued to enable portfolio aggregation and platform-level transactions. The government’s continued pro-business regulatory reforms, the sector-focused liberalisation of the foreign direct investment (FDI) regime, and the introduction of schemes such as the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme continues to drive inbound investment deci- sions and the value chain around these sectors.
1.2 Energy and Infrastructure Trends During the past 12 months, large Indian energy firms have emerged as dominant entrants in the renewable energy space, intending to diversify their portfolio. In 2024–25, ONGC NTPC Green (joint venture of ONGC and NTPC) acquired Ayana Renewable Power, and ONGC Green acquired PTC Energy’s 288 MW wind assets. In April 2025, JSW Neo Energy acquired a 4.7 GW renewable platform from O2 Power (backed by EQT and Temasek). India’s energy space has also witnessed significant exits, such as Fortum Oyj and Statkraft exiting the Indian energy market and developers such as Enel Green Power negotiating their exits. However, this has been contrasted by strategic partnerships – for exam- ple, Singapore-based Sembcorp, through its Indian subsidiary, entered into a landmark joint venture with BPCL for the development of green hydrogen projects in India. Overall, India’s clean energy sector continues to wit- ness significant investment activity. This is down to the steady progress towards the target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030 (committed to as part of India’s Panchamrit goals introduced at the COP26 in Glasgow, UK). 1.3 Access to the Energy and Infrastructure M&A Market In India, regulatory considerations for both the energy sector and the infrastructure sector ‒ as well as sec-
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