The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced its decision to invest $30 million (around Rs 162.66 crore) in clean-energy firm NSL Renewable Power Pvt. Ltd. to help it construct wind and hydropower projects.

NSL Group will use the money to partly fund the construction of its 75-megawatt Chilarewadi wind plant in Maharashtra, and a 100 megawatt Tidong run-of-river hydro project in Himachal Pradesh.

Announcing the agreement ADB's Deputy Director General Jo Yamagata said, "India will increasingly need renewable energy to drive its development and private sector will play a role in the country achieving green growth."

This is first time when ADB made an equity investment in a private sector clean energy company in India. NSL said it felt privileged to be the beneficiary of the bank's first equity investment in renewable energy.

A couple of days back, NSL Renewable Power Pvt. Ltd. hit an equity investment deal of around $60 million with a consortium of investors from Korea, Germany and France. The company had raised a similar amount of funds in 2011 too.

NSL Renewable Power, which had clean energy projects of 185 megawatts at the end of last year, aims to increase its clean energy capacity to 1,000 megawatts by the year 2017.