NPCI Launches Tech Innovation Arm NTSL To Drive AI, Blockchain and Digital Infrastructure Innovation

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) today announced the formation of NPCI Tech Solutions Limited (NTSL) as its wholly owned subsidiary and the appointment of Vishal Kanvaty as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of NTSL.

NTSL has been established as the technology and innovation arm of NPCI Group. It will build capabilities beyond NPCI's core payments mandate, with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain & Digital Financial Infrastructure and Global Capability Centre (GCC) services. NTSL will also provide technology services for eKYC Setu, Unified Ticketing Platform (UTP) and other Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) programmes, supporting the expansion of the Group's technology initiatives.

Vishal, who has been associated with NPCI for nearly a decade, has led the development and commercialisation of several market innovation platforms that now form part of NTSL's focus areas and will lead the company as it builds capabilities across these emerging technology domains.

Dilip Asbe, Managing Director & CEO, NPCI, said:

Technology has been at the core of NPCI's journey and its contribution to India's digital transformation. As we look ahead, advancements in Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technologies are creating new possibilities across digital infrastructure and financial services. NTSL has been established to focus on these opportunities and further strengthen the NPCI Group's technology capabilities. We are pleased to have Vishal lead NTSL and are confident that his experience and leadership will guide its growth and future direction.

NPCI's Other Subsidiaries

1. NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL): Drives the global expansion of UPI and RuPay through international partnerships and cross-border payment initiatives.
2. NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited (NBBL): Operates and manages the Bharat BillPay ecosystem for interoperable bill payments.
3. NPCI BHIM Services Limited (NBSL): Manages and develops the BHIM UPI platform and related services.
4. NPCI Tech Solutions Limited (NTSL): Focuses on AI, blockchain, digital financial infrastructure, GCC services, eKYC Setu, UTP and other DPI initiatives.

About NPCI

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella entity responsible for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), RuPay and other key digital payment infrastructure.

Vertiv Completes $1.45 Bn UIG Acquisition to Boost AI Data Center Power Infrastructure

UIG’s proven team and proprietary technology add microgrid controls, onsite generation orchestration, microgrid-specific switchgear and behind-the-meter power architecture to Vertiv’s portfolio

Extends Vertiv’s power and cooling portfolio from grid interconnect to chip, independent of any single generation technology or supplier

Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) (“Vertiv”), a global leader in critical digital infrastructure, announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Vertiv Corporation, has completed its acquisition of Utility Innovation Holdings, Inc., which operates as UtilityInnovation Group (“UIG”) for approximately $1.45 billion in upfront cash. The transaction includes additional contingent consideration of up to $1.15 billion in cash based on achieving certain earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) targets over 12- and 24-month periods.

At the approximately $1.45 billion purchase price, the acquisition represents approximately 13x expected UIG 2027 EBITDA. The EBITDA multiple is anticipated to be significantly lower if the full earnout is paid. Vertiv expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first year following completion.

UIG is a leader in microgrid solutions, advanced power controls and behind-the-meter power architecture design for data centers. The acquisition extends Vertiv upstream to the grid interconnect, adding microgrid controls, onsite generation and energy storage orchestration, and behind-the-meter power architecture. These capabilities are expected to help data center operators secure power faster as grid constraints increasingly limit AI infrastructure deployment.

“We are pleased to welcome the UIG team to Vertiv,” said Vertiv CEO Giordano Albertazzi. “As AI data center operators work to accelerate deployment in an increasingly power-constrained environment, access to power has become a critical competitive advantage. With UIG now part of Vertiv, we can extend our capabilities upstream to the utility interconnect and onsite power sources, creating a coordinated solution, from behind-the-meter power generation to chip, that helps customers achieve faster time to power without tying them to a single generation technology or supplier.”

The Vertiv and UIG combination is expected to give customers greater flexibility in how they source, manage and scale power as data center requirements evolve by:

• Accelerating access to power to ease or eliminate dependence on utility interconnection timelines, 
• Enabling Behind the Meter (BTM) site capacity to scale beyond what the grid alone can provide, and
• Providing a single accountable relationship from grid interconnect through rack-level infrastructure.

“UIG is excited to advance its mission to solve the power constraints that are slowing AI data center development,” said Sidney Hinton, Founder and CEO of UIG. “As part of Vertiv, we will be able to bring our microgrid and behind-the-meter power expertise to a broader set of customers globally, helping accelerate deployment of the critical infrastructure needed to support the growth of AI.”

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisor to Vertiv, and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC served as legal counsel. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to UIG, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal counsel.

For more information about Vertiv’s end-to-end portfolio of power and thermal management systems, infrastructure solutions and lifecycle services, visit Vertiv.com.

Pentagreen Capital and Candi Solar Announce $50 Million Financing Partnership for 400 MW Solar and Battery Projects in India

Pentagreen Capital and Candi Solar announce a US$50 million financing partnership for 400 MW of solar and battery storage projects in India

Pentagreen Capital (“Pentagreen”), manager of the Green Investments Partnership (“GIP”), a strategy under Singapore’s Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (“FAST-P”) initiative, and Candi Solar, a leading clean energy company specialising in distributed solar solutions for commercial and industrial (“C&I”) businesses, today announced the signing of a US$50 million financing partnership.

The transaction will finance approximately 400MWp of solar and battery energy storage projects in India, expanding access to clean energy for the small and medium-sized enterprise (“SME”) segment, which is underserved with renewable energy access but accounts for 31% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and 35% of its manufacturing output. It will also underpin Candi’s rapid expansion, supporting the company's objective to more than double its total capacity to exceed 1GW over the next 24 months.

From left to right: Michelle Head, Candi Solar, Daryl Aw Yeong, Pentagreen Capital

Marat Zapparov, CEO of Pentagreen Capital said:

India’s growing energy demand and need to reduce oil imports make the transition to clean energy both a strategic and an economic priority. Pentagreen Capital, under Singapore’s FAST-P initiative, is honoured to partner with Candi, whose flexible solar and storage solutions are tailored to the needs of India’s SMEs. Together, we are unlocking finance for projects that make clean energy accessible to an underserved segment, help businesses stabilise their energy costs, and strengthen India’s energy security.

Fabio Eucalipto, Co-founder and Director of Candi Solar, said:

The climate crisis demands an energy transition that reaches far beyond large corporations to the millions of smaller businesses that power India's economy and drive its industrial growth. These companies should benefit from clean, reliable energy without the burden of mastering energy complexities or making major capital commitments. At Candi, we have spent years building a customer-first model to make this possible. By combining rooftop and ground-mounted open-access solutions with flexible financing, we can deliver tailored energy solutions at scale. Our partnership with Pentagreen is an important milestone and the first building block in our next phase of growth. Together with recent additional shareholder commitments and an equity round planned for early next year, the capital will help us accelerate towards installing more than 1 GW of operational solar capacity within the next 24 months, bringing clean energy to hundreds more businesses across India.

The facility will finance rooftop, ground-mounted, and open-access solar installations paired with BESS across key business hubs in India. These projects are expected to deliver 560 gigawatt hours (“GWh”) of renewable energy annually, supporting the decarbonisation of 227 commercial and industrial customers, 78% of which are SMEs. This would enable the avoidance of an estimated 397,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

India has set a target of 500GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, up from 300GW in August 2026, and is promoting battery energy storage to deepen the decarbonisation of its power sector.² According to India’s public policy think tank NITI Aayog’s “Roadmap for Green Transition of MSMEs,” SMEs in India account for approximately 135 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (“MtCO2e”) of emissions annually, largely due to fossil fuel-based energy use. Providing capital to this underserved segment is key to accelerating India’s energy transition.

Under Candi's turnkey shared-value model, clients preserve their capital, paying only for the clean energy generated while Candi manages all engineering, construction and long-term operational performance.

As a solar project developer and financier serving commercial and industrial businesses across India, Candi addresses their clean energy needs through a suite of flexible, performance-linked solar and storage solutions tailored to each customer’s energy requirements and cost-saving objectives. Its model enables SMEs to adopt clean energy without upfront capital expenditure, while integrating solutions into their existing operations. By reducing reliance on conventional energy sources, these solutions can also help businesses manage energy costs and reduce exposure to fluctuations in diesel and grid electricity prices.

About Pentagreen Capital

Headquartered in Singapore, Pentagreen is the sustainable infrastructure debt financing platform established by HSBC and Temasek, dedicated to accelerating sustainable infrastructure in Asia. The company seeks to unlock the flow of capital where it is most needed, bridge critical gaps in Asia’s infrastructure financing needs, and open new infrastructure opportunities to investors.

Pentagreen Capital operates a blended finance strategy under the Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (“FAST-P”), a Singapore-led initiative in collaboration with key global public, private and philanthropic partners. Focused on Southeast Asia and with an allocation to South Asia, the strategy provides debt finance to accelerate the development of projects across renewable energy and storage, electric vehicle infrastructure, sustainable transport, water and waste management, data infrastructure and other green infrastructure sectors.

The strategy is backed by Pentagreen Capital, the FAST-P Office under the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”), Australian Government represented by Export Finance Australia, International Finance Corporation, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (“FMO”), HSBC, Temasek, British International Investment, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Allied Climate Partners, DBS and Cathay United Bank. The European Commission is supporting the strategy under its Global Gateway programme.

Pentagreen holds a capital markets services license from the MAS to carry out fund management activities. For more information, please visit www.pentagreen.com.

About Candi Solar

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Candi Solar is a leading clean energy company and dedicated distributed solar and battery storage partner for commercial and industrial (“C&I”) enterprises across India and South Africa.

Combining Swiss engineering standards with flexible, balance-sheet-light financing models, including Power Purchase Agreements (“PPAs”) and Performance-Linked Models (“PLLs”), Candi manages every project end-to-end, enabling businesses to switch to clean power with minimal capital outlay and complete generation guarantees.

Candi has contracted over 340 MW across more than 185 installations. To date, Candi Solar has secured over USD 200 million in cumulative capital from premier global development finance institutions and leading infrastructure investors. The company is supported by key equity partners Norfund, STOA Infra & Energy, and Kyuden International, alongside institutional lenders including the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”) and the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (“EEGF”).

For more information, visit www.candi.solar.

Media enquiries to Candi Solar:

Bhavya Master
bhavya@candi.solar
Global Head of Marketing

2 https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2296782®=48&lang=2

JSW Group to Invest Up to ₹50,000 Crore in West Bengal Across Power, Ports and Cement

The JSW Group has unveiled plans to invest up to ₹50,000 crore in West Bengal, reinforcing its long-term commitment to the state's industrial development. The proposed investments will span key sectors including power generation, ports, cement, steel and power systems, positioning West Bengal as a major destination for industrial and infrastructure expansion.

The announcement follows discussions between Sajjan Jindal, Chairman of the JSW Group, and Suvendu Adhikari, Chief Minister of West Bengal, regarding future investment opportunities in the state.

JSW's proposed ₹50,000 crore commitment comes amid renewed investor interest in West Bengal, with major business groups including Adani, Reliance, L&T and Amul either announcing investments or exploring expansion opportunities in the state.

Major Focus on Power Sector Expansion

A significant portion of the proposed investment is expected to be directed towards power projects. The group is already developing a 1,600 MW thermal power plant at Salboni in Paschim Medinipur and plans to establish a second 1,600 MW unit, substantially expanding power generation capacity in the state.

According to reports, investments in the power sector could account for nearly ₹40,000 crore of the overall commitment, making it one of the largest private-sector power investments in eastern India.

Port Infrastructure to Receive Major Boost

JSW is also strengthening its presence in maritime infrastructure. JSW Infrastructure is investing around ₹1,500 crore to modernise facilities and operations at the Kolkata Dock System, aimed at improving cargo handling efficiency and logistics capabilities.

The group has also expressed interest in opportunities related to the proposed deep-sea port project at Dadanpatrabar, which could further enhance West Bengal's connectivity and trade potential.

Cement and Industrial Development Plans

Beyond power and ports, the investment roadmap includes expansion across cement and steel businesses. JSW already operates cement and steel facilities in West Bengal and plans to leverage its existing industrial footprint to support future growth.

The proposed investments are expected to strengthen the state's manufacturing ecosystem, create employment opportunities and attract ancillary industries around major industrial hubs. This expectation is an industry assessment based on the scale of the announced projects and is not specifically quantified in the reported plans.

Strengthening West Bengal's Industrial Ecosystem

The proposed ₹50,000 crore investment marks one of the largest industrial commitments currently under consideration in West Bengal. With focus areas spanning power generation, port modernisation, cement production and steel manufacturing, the initiative underscores the growing confidence of large corporate groups in the state's industrial prospects.

As JSW advances its expansion plans, the projects are likely to play an important role in enhancing West Bengal's infrastructure capacity and supporting long-term economic development.

BHEL Bags Adani Power Orders Worth Up to ₹28,000 Crore for Four Thermal Projects

Image - Flickr/ Gaurav Virdi

State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has secured four major thermal power project orders from Adani Power, with the combined contract value estimated between ₹20,000 crore and ₹28,000 crore (excluding GST). Each project is valued at ₹5,000-7,000 crore and involves 2x800 MW units.

Under the agreement, BHEL will supply critical equipment, including Boilers, Turbines and Generators, along with the required auxiliaries and associated services, for four projects with a capacity of 2x800 MW each. The contracts will be executed in accordance with the specific requirements of the customer’s projects. With a total capacity of 6,400 MW, this order reflects the customer’s continued confidence in BHEL’s proven project execution capabilities.

Key Highlights

• 4 projects awarded by Adani Power.
• Capacity: 2x800 MW per project, totaling 6,400 MW.
• Order value: ₹20,000-28,000 crore (excluding GST).
• Scope: Supply of boiler, turbine and generator (BTG) equipment, auxiliaries, and associated services.
• Nature of contracts: Domestic projects to be executed according to Adani Power's project requirements.

Why It Matters

The order is one of BHEL's largest recent wins and strengthens its position in India's thermal power equipment market while supporting Adani Power's expansion plans. The four projects together represent 6.4 GW of new power-generation capacity.

At the end of FY 2025-26, BHEL reinforced its market dominance by maintaining a 54% share in utility-scale thermal capacity, 60% in nuclear (secondary side), and 43% in hydro power across the country. In total, BHEL accounts for 53% of India's overall utility-scale conventional power generation capacity.