Dubai Group, the diversified financial services arm of Dubai Holding, has acquired a 40 per cent stake in Chiranjjeevi Wind Energy Limited (CWEL), a wind turbine manufacturer.

The investment was made by Dubai Ventures, the equity investment company of Dubai Investment Group, a subsidiary of the 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.

"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," Abdulhakeem Kamkar, chief executive of Dubai Investment Group, said.

"While CWEL will have a strong base in India, we intend to explore, along with CWEL, other regions, specially the 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 EUROS for transfer of technology to manufacture rotor blades. CWEL has already installed over 150 wind-turbine machines in India.

 "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," RVS Marimuthu, chairman and managing director of Chiranjjeevi Wind Energy, said.

CWEL recently received a $25 million order from India Globalisation Capital, Inc. for setting up a 24MW wind farm in Karnataka. 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.

CWEL has already installed over 150 wind-turbine machines in India.

Dubai Investment Group's investments in renewable energy include: biomass power plants, waste-to-energy plants, soyabean oil project, as well as fertilizer and methane gas projects in China; hydroelectric power plants in China and the Philippines; stakes in crude palm oil and kernel oil plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia; bio-diesel and glycerine projects in Malaysia; ethanol (sugar cane) project in Indonesia and wind farm development in India.