In the latest instance of the long line of Japanese aid for Indian infrastructure, state-run power utility NTPC has tied up loans of $250 million with Mizuho Bank of Japan for funding expansion plans.
NTPC "had signed a syndicated term loan facility of $250 million arranged by Mizuho Bank Limited, Singapore Branch. The proceeds of the facility will be utilized to finance capital expenditure on the company's ongoing and new projects and renovation and modernization of stations," the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The loan carries a floating rate of interest linked to LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate of interest that high-end banks charge each other for loans) and has a door-to-door maturity of 7 years, it added.
NTPC, with an installed generation capacity of 43,128 MW, plans to add 1,798 MW capacity in the current fiscal.
The company's coal requirement for fiscal 2014-15 is estimated to be 177 million tonnes. Faced with coal shortage, the thermal power generator plans to import 17 MT of the fuel during this fiscal.