In recent weeks, the private equity giant, Blackstone Group decided to invest $300 million to buy a minority stake in Indian power developer Moser Baer Projects Private Ltd, which seeks to build out thermal, solar and hydro power generation as well as coal mining operations.The parent of this entity happens to be the world’s second largest maker of CDs and DVDs in the world and a venture-funded company.
Blackstone also invested $59 million for a stake in Monnet Power, a subsidiary of publicly-traded Monnet Ispat and Energy. This entity owns a coal-fired plant in Orissa.
Akhil Gupta, managing director of Blackstone Advisors India, said the group had already invested $1.25bn in India in equity commitments and expect to invest another $4 billion by 2015.
To the India Expert, it is noteworthy that Blackstone is not choosing to direct its dollars to those with significant power generation experience in India, including private sector players such as Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure. Perhaps their backing of unproven companies in this sector is an indication of their great confidence in the exploding demand for electrical power (and I would agree with that assumption).
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
