US-based investment manager Blackstone is planning a renewables investment platform in India, two sources familiar told Infralogic.

The initial amount could be USD 500m, and then increase, they said, adding that the plans are subject to change. A fund manager with a foreign investment firm said that he expects Blackstone’s proposed vehicle may become one of India’s biggest renewables platforms. None of the sources provided a potential timeline.

Blackstone is currently evaluating 800 MW of renewables assets put on sale by Macquarie’s Vibrant Energy, the sources said. Bids for the portfolio are due next week. Blackstone is likely to also bid for Edelweiss Group’s 74% stake in a 1.2 GW solar platform that it co-owns with Engie, the sources said. Edelweiss’ unit EAAA India Alternatives has hired Standard Chartered to run the sale, domestic media reported last month. Blacksone is also vying for Norwegian company Statkraft’s 2 GW assets and has submitted a non-binding offer, domestic media reported this May.

The US-based investment manager had earlier focused on real estate and private equity in India, and this March filed a draft prospectus for a public offering for what will be the country’s largest real estate investment trust to date, seeking to raise up to INR 62bn (USD 723.4m). CEO Stephen Schwarzman told a television channel this March that the firm expects to be able to double its assets under management in India to USD 100bn, and that its returns in the country on a gross basis are around 40% annually. Schwarzman was in Mumbai to mark the firm’s two decades in India.

It was in the race for Eversource Capital-backed Radiance Renewables but Eversource has pulled the deal off the market as it considers mezzanine financing. Blackstone is planning to bring all its global pools of capital to India, Senior Managing Director Mukesh Mehta told Infralogic this February.

The New York-headquartered manager runs multiple strategies globally including infrastructure, energy transition, life sciences, growth and tactical opportunities. Blackstone pulled out of a USD 5bn Indian Infrastructure Fund that was launched in 2007 with Citigroup and India Infrastructure Finance Company, which was meant to invest in roads, ports and power projects. The equity component of the fund was reduced to less than USD 1bn and it was allocated just USD 35m, or less than 5%.

Blackstone and Macquarie declined to comment.