11th Mar 2008 07:01
Greenko Group plc11 March 2008 Greenko Group plc ("Greenko" or "the Company") Appointment of new Non-Executive Director Greenko, the AIM listed Indian renewable energy owner and operator, is pleasedto announce the appointment of Mr. Narasimharamulu Pantam as a Non-ExecutiveDirector with effect from 7 March 2008. Mr. Pantam, aged 62, was formerlyFinance Director of NTPC Ltd, the largest power utility in India, and played apivotal role in the listing of its shares on the National and Bombay stockexchanges in 2004. Mr. Pantam, a practicing Chartered Accountant, was awarded"India CFO Awards 2004" for Excellence in Finance in the Public Sector and the"Top Rankers Award" by the Birla Institute of Management and Technology in 2001for Excellence in Finance. In addition to his role as Finance Director, Mr. Pantam was also part timedirector on the boards of a number of NTPC's subsidiaries and joint venturesincluding NTPC Electric Supply Company Ltd., NTPC Hydro Ltd. and NTPC UtilityPower Tech Ltd.. Mr. Pantam is currently on the board of a number of companiesincluding M/s Vijai Electricals Ltd, the manufacturer of power and distributiontransformers and M/s Lanco Infratech Ltd., a power and power trading company. Heconsults for a variety of public sector bodies at both state and national levelincluding Power Finance Corporation Ltd., New Delhi, Power Grid Corporation ofIndia Ltd., Gurgaon and Oil India Ltd, Noida. Commenting on the appointment, Anil Chalamalasetty, CEO of Greenko said: "We are delighted that Mr. Pantam has agreed to join Greenko. He is one of themost experienced individuals working in the Indian energy sector and has beeninvolved in all aspects from securing finance for new energy assets to thetransmission of electricity to the end user. We believe Mr. Pantam, with hissuperb track record, will be invaluable in helping Greenko expand our portfolioof clean energy assets in India in order to supply electricity to the growingIndian market and CERs to industries in the US and Europe wishing to offsettheir carbon footprint." Disclosures required in respect of Mr. Pantam under paragraph (g) of Schedule 2to the AIM Rules are set out below. Enquires: Greenko Group plc Anil Chalamalasetty +91 (0)98 4964 3333Mahesh Kolli +44 (0)7767 692729Tim Bowen +44 (0)7973 668818 Arden Partners plc Christopher Hardie +44 (0)20 7398 1630Adrian Trimmings Cardew Group Rupert Pittman +44 (0)20 7930 0777Jamie MiltonCatherine Maitland NOTES TO EDITORS Background Greenko intends to become a leading owner and operator of clean energy projectsin India. The business was developed by Anil Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli whoincorporated the business in January 2006. Greenko already has 90.5MW ofcontracted clean energy assets including 6 biomass and two hydroelectric plants.The Company is focused on developing a portfolio of biomass, hydro and windassets within India and intends to increase the installed capacity it operatesthrough a combination of purchasing both existing assets and projects underconstruction, as well as the winning of concessions to develop new greenfieldassets. The Indian renewable energy sector is a relatively young and fragmented market.The new projects are likely to take the form of the acquisition of existingassets under construction and the building of new plants on greenfield sites.Greenko intends to be a consolidator within this sector utilizing its expertisein carbon trading and knowledge of the market and to become a leading renewableenergy owner and operator in India. The Group's income is generated from receipts for power sold to stateelectricity boards and from sale of high margin carbon credits or CertifiedEmission Reduction units ("CERs") generated from the Group's registered cleanenergy projects. In the future, the Directors believe that new opportunities,such as the direct sale of electricity to large scale users and sales of CERs inthe voluntary market, will broaden the income streams of the Group as well asenhance profitability. The Indian economy India has a population of approximately 1.1 billion people, which is currentlygrowing at 1.5 per cent. per annum, making it one of the largest populations inthe world. The average age of the population is 24, providing a growing, welleducated workforce. The Indian economy has benefited from low inflation andrecent liberalisation has encouraged strong international investment which hashelped to promote strong economic growth particularly in the past five years.The growth in industrial production and GDP per capita has resulted in a strongincrease in demand for electricity. This has led to a shortfall in supply,resulting in both brown-outs (where the voltage level drops below the normalminimum level specified for the system, therefore particularly damaging toelectric motors) and black-outs. In addition, the 2001 Indian Census reportedthat 44 per cent. of households did not have access to electricity. Due topopulation growth since 2001 and the existing electricity infrastructure, theDirectors believe this may have increased perhaps to as much as 60 per cent. orover 600 million people. Disclosures in respect of Mr. Pantam under paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 to the AIM Rules: 1. Holds the following current directorships M/s Vijai Electricals Ltd. Hyderabad M/s. Jayavenkatrama Industries Ltd., M/s Lanco Infratech Limited, Hyderabad M/s JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd. 2. Has held these past directorships in the last five years NTPC Ltd., NTPC Electric Supply Company Ltd., NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited, NTPC Hydro Limited, Utility Power Tech Ltd. NTPC Alsthom Power Services Pvt. Ltd. NTPC Tamil Nadu Energy Company 3) No further information is required to be disclosed in respect of Mr. Pantam pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 to the AIM Rules. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
GKO.L