NEW DELHI – A joint venture between two major Japanese electric power companies is looking to explore more business opportunities in India’s energy market with a particular focus on renewable energy, joining a growing list of investors betting big on the country’s clean energy sector.

“We have just taken our first step in India’s energy market,” said Toshiro Kudama, senior executive vice president of Jera Co., equally owned by Tepco Fuel & Power Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., and Chubu Electric Power Co.

He was referring to Jera’s recent acquisition of an equity stake in an Indian renewable energy firm.

“Our immediate focus remains the country’s renewable energy sector, which looks very promising to investors like us seeking to build a renewable energy portfolio,” Kudama said.

“However, we will also be exploring opportunities in other segments of the energy market in India such as providing energy services and building energy infrastructure.”

Jera, which acquired a 10 percent stake in ReNew Power Ventures for $200 million last week, has become the latest newcomer in India’s renewable energy business, a sector being promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

The government is seeking to lure more investments in the sector to achieve its target of 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2022 to respond to the triple challenges of meeting swelling electricity demand, cutting pollution and offering millions of people access to power connectivity.

India had a total installed power generation capacity of about 307 GW from all resources as of last October, with renewable energy accounting for some 46 GW, or about 15 percent to the total.

According to the latest government data, the total foreign direct investment inflow in the nonconventional energy sector from April 2014 to last September was $1.77 billion.

Venture Intelligence, which tracks private equity deals in India, estimates that energy companies in the country attracted $1.2 billion worth of such investments (across 27 deals) in 2015, which was more than twice that in 2014.

Major energy investments in 2015 included the $265 million investment in ReNew Power Ventures that was led by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, followed by the $256 million buyout of Greenko Group’s Indian assets by GIC Singapore, according to Venture Intelligence. In 2016, private equity deals in India stood at $662 million.

“India is one of the biggest renewable markets worldwide and is attracting huge investment interest from overseas,” said Vinay Rustagi, managing director of research firm Bridge to India, a renewable energy consultancy.

There are many attractions for international investors, such as a strong political commitment to the sector and growing market size, Rustagi said.

“That’s why we see leading investors coming to India from across the globe,” he said, citing GIC and Sembcorp, both of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, CLP of Hong Kong, Engie and EDF, both of France, Japan’s SoftBank as well as Jera.

Rustagi said the investment required for the sector is huge, estimated at over $100 billion over the next five years for the 175 GW of generation capacity and allied investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure.

“We are still relatively early in this investment cycle,” Rustagi said. “So we will see an increasing number of private equity deals, bond offerings and initial public offers.”

Sunil Sanghai, vice chairman and head of investment banking at HSBC Holdings, said the renewable energy sector, especially solar power, in India is witnessing demand from overseas investors.

Speaking during the seventh India-Japan Energy Forum last month, Indian Power Minister Piyush Goyal sought to deepen bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.