World-Bank Backed Azure Starts Up Solar-Power Plant in India

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Azure Power, an Indian developer of solar power plants backed by the World Bank, has started running a 5-megawatt project in western India.

The state government of Gujarat will buy power from the plant under a 25-year power purchase agreement, the New Delhi– based company said in an e-mailed statement. The International Finance Corp., the private-sector financing arm of the World Bank, is an investor in the project.

The 1.7 billion-rupee ($38 million) project at Khadoda village in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district will be expanded to 10 megawatts by the time it’s completed, Azure said.

Other investors include the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp. and two venture-capital firms — Helion Advisors, based in Gurgaon near New Delhi, and Menlo Park, California-based Foundation Capital, Azure said.