SBI to pick up 9.8% in Ratnagiri Gas

State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to pick a 9.8 per stake invest in Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private, while ICICI Bank along with IDBI would take another 23.3 per cent in the company.

SBI would invest around Rs 147 crore into the equity of the company while ICICI and IDBI collectively would provide Rs 350 crore.

Bhattacharya said, "With Dabhol going on stream, SBI will see its NPA levels decline below 1.5 per cent. These three banks had a total exposure of Rs 5,500 crore to the project."

"The banks are also considering the possibility of revising the rates offered for the project - downwards. There was a possibility of cost of gas prices per unit crossing Rs 1.2.

If this happens, we would revise the rate of interest so that cost of power generation does not cross Rs 2.3 per unit. Other components are conversion cost at 17 paise per unit and fixed cost at 93 paise per unit," he said.

GAIL had hinted on the possibility of gas prices rising which would result in cost of gas per unit of power generated above Rs 2.3 per unit.