North Star Renewable Energy appoints Shivanand Nimbargi as Managing Director and CEO

North Star Renewable Energy, a joint venture between British International Investment (BII) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) through its Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II), has appointed Shivanand Nimbargi as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, the company said in a statement on Monday.

He will lead North Star’s efforts to develop and scale renewable energy projects across India, helping to mobilise private capital and accelerate the country's energy transition.

Shivanand Nimbargi brings more than three decades of experience across the energy, transport and infrastructure sectors. Most recently, he served as Managing Director and CEO of Ayana Renewable Power, one of India's largest renewable energy companies and a platform originally established by BII in 2018. Under his leadership, Ayana grew into a leading renewable energy business that attracted major institutional investors and helped to demonstrate the potential of BII's platform-building approach in India's clean energy sector.


His experience in building and leading renewable energy businesses, together with his longstanding association with BII, makes him well placed to lead North Star as it establishes and scales its renewable energy platform in India.

North Star was established by BII and CIP this year to invest in and develop renewable energy opportunities in India, bringing together BII’s long-term investment approach and experience in emerging markets with CIP’s global expertise in renewable energy infrastructure. As India seeks to more than triple its renewable energy capacity by 2030, significant capital and execution gaps remain. North Star is designed to help address these constraints by advancing projects from development to scale and attracting greater investment into the sector.

North Star is also a key platform within British Climate Partners (BCP), BII's £1.1 billion climate finance initiative established to support the decarbonisation of coal-dependent economies, including India, by mobilising private capital at scale. Through platform investments such as North Star, BCP aims to unlock institutional investment into climate solutions and support large-scale emissions reductions across Asia.

Nimbargi said: “I am pleased to join North Star at an important time for India's energy transition. Having had the opportunity to work with BII-backed businesses over the years, I have seen the value of long-term capital and strong partnerships in building sustainable energy platforms. I look forward to working with BII and CIP to develop North Star and contribute to India's growing renewable energy ambitions.”

Peter Jannik Sjøntoft, Partner in CIP’s Growth Markets Funds, and Rohit Anand, Managing Director and Head of Asia Infrastructure and Climate Direct Investments, British International Investment, said : "Shivanand brings exactly the experience North Star needs at this stage of its development. Having most recently built one of the country's leading renewable energy platforms from the ground up, he understands what it takes to move from ambition to operating assets. His appointment marks an important step in delivering a business that contributes meaningfully to India’s decarbonization and energy security goals.”

North Star will invest across solar, wind and hybrid renewable energy as well as storage projects, which are expected to generate more than 4 million MWh of clean energy annually and avoid about 4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.