The Grid Corporation of Orissa (Gridco) has opened its second tranche of market borrowings of Rs 190 crore to fund its revamp programme. The corporation expects to raise between Rs 400 crore and Rs 500 crore over the next 18 months to meet its rupee payment requirements.
The entire revamp of the Orissa State Electricity Board is funded by the World Bank. The cost of the revamp programme has been revised from Rs 4,135 crore to Rs 5,100 crore. Of this, the rupee component is estimated at Rs 800 crore.
Apple Finance, which is arranging the private placement deal, is confident of the issue sailing through although it comes at a time when the RBI has hiked banks' CRR requirements. The seven-year issue is backed by an irrevocable conditional guarantee by the Orissa government, with the escrow mechanism for timely payments of interest and principal.
