India's Adani Green to raise $1.5 billion in green energy push

(Reuters) -India's Adani Green Energy, controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani, said on Thursday it approved raising 123 billion rupees ($1.49 billion) through qualified institutional placement.

The renewables company will use the funds to diversify its green energy supply in the country, Bloomberg had reported earlier in the day, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The company plans to expand its green energy capacity by about 3 gigawatts this fiscal year, spending around 140 billion rupees ($1.70 billion), its finance chief Phuntsok Wangyal had said in May.

India's renewables sector has been one of the most lucrative sectors for international investors, finding its spot among one of the country's top five industries for overseas funds last year.

In May, two other Adani group companies - Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprise - outlined plans to raise up to $2.57 billion after a U.S. short-seller's critical report in January battered investor confidence.

The conglomerate's seven listed entities have lost more than $100 billion in market value since Hindenburg Research's report accused the group of unlawful use of offshore tax havens and stock manipulation. Adani has denied the allegations.

Adani Energy's shares alone have halved in value so far this year. They were up less than 1% on Thursday. ($1 = 82.5190 Indian rupees)

($1 = 82.5150 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Indranil Sarkar and Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Eileen Soreng and Savio D'Souza)