NTPC to form JV with NPCIL

State-run power producer NTPC today said that it would form a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd for setting up a nuclear power project."NTPC board has approved the formation of a joint venture company with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) to set up a nuclear power project," company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.NTPC would hold 49 per cent of the stake in the joint venture company and 51 per cent would be held by NPCIL.

The company plans to raise up to Rs 4,500 crore from domestic as well as international markets for meeting its expansion plans in the current financial year.NTPC posted a net profit of Rs 2,110 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, a jump of 9.60 per cent from Rs 1,925 crore in the second quarter of last fiscal.Total income rose by 18.94 per cent to Rs 10,406 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs 8,749 crore in the same period last fiscal.The company's net sales rose to Rs 19,201 crore in the first half of the current fiscal, from Rs 16,976 crore in the year-ago period.

SBI to fund Tatas' bid for Singapore co

India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), will offer Tata Power $1 billion to help it acquire Senoko Power, Singapore’s largest-power utility.In the past, SBI had extended a $1.2 billion loan for the Corus acquisition and about $500 million for financing the buy out of Jaguar and Land Rover( SBI, others to raise $3 bn for Tata Motors
). For the Senoko bid, SBI Capital Market has been appointed as the lead arranger for funds. SBI has agreed to provide a loan for 18-24 months. The loan is pegged 350 basis points over Libor.

Temasek Holdings had put Senoko Power on the block in early August, in a deal which is expected to raise close to $3 billion. Temasek is expected to shortlist bidders in the first week of September after which those shortlisted will be allowed to carry out a due-diligence exercise. The entire sale is expected to be concluded by the end of 2009.

NTPC approaches govt to raise ECBs worth $25 bn

State-run power company NTPC has approached the government for free access to external capital markets for raising debt of around Rs 1.05 lakh crore (about 25 billion dollar) in order to become a 50,000 MW company by 2012.The ECB would include Rs 60,300 crore in foreign currency and Rs 45,200 crore in rupee term.


Countries largest power producer NTPC wants to raise money in foreign as well as domestic currency without any ceiling.In the present scenario, the companies can raise up to 500 million dollar per annum through ECBs under the automatic route for import of equipments. Apart from this an additional 250 million dollar can be raised for the said purpose with the approval of RBI.

NTPC is pursuing this matter with the power minister to achieve its ultimate objective of becoming a 50,000 MW company by 2012 and a 75,000 MW company by 2017.For achieving these targets, the company is required to invest around Rs 1.6 lakh crore during the XI plan period.The debt requirement is around Rs 1. 05 lakh crore with 70:30 debt equity ratio

TPC in race for Singapore power co

Investment arm of Government of Singapore,Temasek Holdings has shortlisted Tata Power (TPC) to bid for the city state’s power generating company, Senoko Power.The successful bidder may need to fork out $3 billion to bag Senoko.Tata Power will have to compete with global giants like Japan’s Marubeni and Mitsubishi, France’s GDF Suez, Malaysia’s YTL Power and the OneEnergy-CLP Holdings combine

The sale of Senoko will involve a two-stage process with interested companies initially submitting a non-binding expression of interest. Later, the shortlisted companies will be allowed to conduct due diligence before making their binding offers.

In the last financial year, Senoko Power generated revenues of $2.5 billion and an operating profit of $245 million. Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley are advising Temasek on the sale of all the three power generating companies.

Read more in The Economic Times artcile.

Videocon to foray into hospitality, hydropower

After foraying into the telecommunications and thermal power sectors, Venugopal N Dhoot, chairman and managing director (CMD), Videocon Industries today said the group is sewing up plans to enter into hospitality and hydropower. The company is in talks with the Uttarakhand government for various projects.

A five star hotel and construction of a Dehra Dun-Mussoorie ropeway are the immediate proposals of the company in the hill state. Besides this, Videocon is also interested in acquiring a heritage building in a Mussoorie hill resort.
Videocon is eyeing for ten acres of land for the construction of five or seven star hotel on the foothills of Mussoorie. An amusement park is also on the cards near the proposed hotel.

As far as hydropower is concerned, Videocon expects to produce nearly 2,000 mw in the first phase of the plan. Already, company officials have held talks with the top state government authorities. The company has also held talks with the Uttarakhand Power Corporation (UPCL) for selling the power.

GMR may raise $3 billion to fund power projects

GMR Infrastructure, which sold shares to billionaire George Soros and Citigroup Inc in December, plans to raise $3 billion (Rs 12,000 crore) over “four or five years’’ to help fund expansion of power projects.

The Bangalore-based company, with interests in power plants, airports and roads, might raise about $2 billion through debt and $1 billion from equity markets to help increase its power capacity six-fold.

GMR Infrastructure had $2 billion of debt as of February 29, of which 7 per cent is in foreign currencies, the company said.

Read more in The Business Standard article.

Clear Investments , PFC to float $1 bn PE fund

US-based Clear Investments and government-owned Power Finance Corp (PFC) have joined hands to float a $1-billion private equity fund for the Indian power sector. Their plan is to increase the size of the fund to $10 billion by 2012 with the sector entering the boom phase in the country.

PFC, which was appointed as the advisory to the investments, has evinced interest in picking up 20% stake in the power fund. PFC has submitted a letter of intent (LoI) to invest $200 million, according to Deepak Kavadia, managing director of the parent company Clear Trade.

The fund, which has an advisory board in India, will invest $250 million to pick up stake in Indian power companies through pre-public offering by March 2008, said Mr Kavadia.

Read more in The Economic Times article.

NTPC in talks with overseas companies for green energy JV

In an effort to acquire expertise it doesn’t currently possess, India’s largest power generation company NTPC Ltd is in talks with foreign firms in the renewable energy business to sell around 40% of its stake in a proposed joint venture (JV) with multilateral lending agency, Asian Development Bank (ADB).

NTPC will hold 40%, ADB, 20%, and the foreign companies will hold 40% in the venture that is part of an effort by the company and the government to reduce, if only marginally, the dependance of the country on fossil fuels such as coal and gas for power generation. The foreign companies are expected to share their expertise in the areas of wind, solar, geothermal and biomass energy generation.The JV hasn't been finalised yet.

Read more in The Livemint article.

BHEL, NTPC to form JV for power sector projects

Public-sector power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and country's leading power generation firm NTPC today announced they will form a joint venture company for carrying out various projects in this space.

"BHEL and NTPC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a joint venture company with the propose to work jointly to complement their respective strength," BHEL said in a release to the BSE.

The joint venture would carry out engineering procurement and construction activities in the power sector, it added.

Rural Electrification Corp file papers for 156 mn share IPO

State-run lender Rural Electrification Corp Ltd (REC) has filed initial papers with the market regulator for a 156-million-share initial public offering, a senior official said on 23 August.

The book-built issue will equally comprise a fresh issue of shares and disinvestment by the federal government. Post-issue, the government’s stake in the firm will come down to 81.82% from 100%.The company is aiming to raise about Rs12 billion from the issue, another source close to the issue said. The funds raised from the fresh issue will be used for funding ongoing and future projects.

REC is the nodal agency for promoting rural electrification projects and also finances state electricity boards for investment in such projects. For the year to March 2007, it reported net profit of Rs6.6 billion on total income of Rs28.5 billion. The company is one of the three state-run power firms cleared earlier this year to sell equity, marking a limited revival of asset sales by the Indian government.

ICICI Securities Ltd, IL&FS Investsmart and SBI Capital Markets are the book-running lead managers to the issue

NTPC signs MoU for renewable power venture

Indian state-run power firm NTPC Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Asian Development Bank to set up a joint venture company for renewable power generation, the company said.

NTPC and other government entities will hold up to 50% in the joint venture, to be established with other strategic investors who will hold the remainder.
ADB is expected to acquire 20% at a later stage, NTPC said in a statement late on 23 July. Financial details were not diclosed.Over the next three years, the joint venture company will hold a portfolio of about 500 mw of renewable generation.

Initially, it will focus primarily on wind power and mini and microhydroelectric power projects. It may also include other renewable power generation resources such as solar, geothermal and bio fuel projects, it said.

RPG group to invest Rs 12000 cr in power

The RPG group has earmarked an investment of Rs 12,000 crore for power and Rs 450 crore for carbon black as two of its thrust business focus areas over the next 2-3 year.

The investment of Rs 450-crore has been earmarked for its carbon black business and has identified three states where it is assessing the project’s prospects.

Asked whether the group was considering a gas-based power project, he said non-availability of gas precluded such a project. “I would love to set up a gas-based project, but then, where is the gas?” he asked.The group was also expanding capacity at its CESC plant whose efficiency, he said, had reached new highs since the group took it over.

Read more in The Business Standard article.