Dubai Group, the leading diversified financial services company of Dubai Holding, has acquired a 40 percent stake in India's Chiranjjeevi Wind Energy Limited (CWEL), a wind turbine manufacturer in India, the group said in a statement on Sunday. The investment was made by Dubai Ventures, the equity investment company of Dubai Investment Group, a subsidiary of Dubai Group. Dubai Investment Group, which aims to build a diversified portfolio of assets in renewable energy, has made focused investments, through its subsidiary Dubai Ventures, over the past two years in the renewable energy sector across Asia, with exposure in direct renewable energy sources and upstream producers of raw material used in renewable energy. Abdulhakeem Kamkar, chief executive officer of Dubai Investment Group, said: “We are pleased to partner with India's CWEL as part of our continuous commitment to finding solutions towards a better future. The world we live in is greatly impacted by global warming and we believe endorsing a project on renewable energy alternatives is the step in the right direction for mitigating environmental degradation.” “While CWEL will have a strong base in India, we intend to explore, along with CWEL, other regions specially Middle East and Africa, where there is potential to set up wind farms," he added. CWEL has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with two German companies - Frisia GmbH for acquiring the entire design, technology, intellectual property of 850KW wind turbines and for transfer of technology to manufacture rotor blades. CWEL has already installed over 150 wind-turbine machines in India. R.V.S Marimuthu, chairman and managing director of Chiranjjeevi Wind Energy, said: “We are overwhelmed by the interest of Dubai Investment Group, which acknowledges our company's unique strengths. This has enabled us to create a platform for organic growth initiatives and compete globally.” CWEL recently received a $25 million order from India Globalization Capital, Inc. for setting up a 24MW wind farm in Karnataka, India. The company will operate and maintain the wind energy farm, which is expected to be operational within a year. CWEL has also been mandated to set up wind farms for generating up to 260MW by Karnataka Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (KTPCL), a government of Karnataka undertaking. Dubai Investment Group's investments in renewable energy include: • China: Biomass power plants, waste-to-energy plants, soya bean oil producer, as well as fertilizer and methane gas producers. • China and the Philippines: hydroelectric power plants. • Malaysia and Indonesia: it holds stakes in crude palm oil and kernel oil plantations • Malaysia: the group recently invested in bio-diesel and glycerine producers in Malaysia • Indonesia: it invested in ethanol (sugar cane) producers. • India: Wind farm development __
