Tycoon Who Started With $60 Is Now Worth $5 Billion In Indian IPO

(Bloomberg) — Hitesh Chimanlal Doshi entered India’s energy sector in 1985 with Rs 5,000 ($60) loan from a relative.

Almost 40 years later, Doshi leads the Waaree Group, one of the largest renewable energy companies in India. Following the listing of the group’s solar panel unit Waaree Energies Ltd in Mumbai on Monday. Doshi and his family have joined the ranks of the world’s richest people.

Shares in Waaree Energies surged 56% following a $514 million initial public offering, bringing the Doshi family’s net worth to about $5.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, nearly doubling the clan’s wealth before the listing. A company spokesman declined to comment on Doshi’s condition.

The 57-year-old is the chairman and managing director of Waaree Energies, while his two brothers and nephew are members of the group’s board of directors. The family is also the largest shareholder in the engineering arm of Waaree Renewable Technologies Ltd. and energy storage company Waaree Technologies Ltd., which is already listed on the stock exchange.

Waaree Energies is India’s largest solar module manufacturer with a capacity of 12,000 megawatts. Most of the revenue comes from export sales to the US, which have grown significantly over the past few years due to tariffs on Chinese solar cells. Investor interest in India’s renewable energy sector is growing amid record global gains in some stocks this year. The listing also highlights the latest wealth creation event in India’s IPO market, one of the world’s busiest this year.

The company will spend 28 billion rupees from its IPO proceeds to build a 6-gigawatt plant in Odisha, a state on India’s east coast.

“Enchanted”

Born in Tunki, Maharashtra, Doshi left his small village in the center of the state and traveled 600 kilometers (373 miles) to attend the Sri Chainai College of Commerce and Economics at the University of Mumbai in 1985.

While there, he borrowed Rs 5,000 from a relative to start trading hardware, electronics and appliances, the profits from which covered his living expenses and college fees, he told the Economic Times in 2014.

After graduating, Doshi borrowed $150,000. rupees from the bank to start a manufacturing company manufacturing pressure gauges, petrol station equipment and industrial fittings. At the turn of the millennium, he saw the potential of trading in energy equipment such as water pumps, heaters, stoves and lanterns.

His largest orders came from clients in the United States and Europe. While attending a trade show in Germany in 2007, he became “fascinated” by the potential of solar energy, according to a 2021 report. report from local news provider YourStory. This inspired him to pivot and sell his thermal equipment business and focus on solar panel manufacturing.

He named the company Waaree Energies after the Wari temple in his village.

In recent years, higher government spending on infrastructure and policy reforms at the federal and state levels have helped Doshi and other renewable energy entrepreneurs.

Renewable energy accounts for nearly half of India’s total installed energy capacity, with solar energy accounting for 20% of the 457 gigawatts of energy as of October 2024, according to the agency. government report.