NTPC signs $750 billion foreign currency loan

NTPC Ltd. has signed a foreign currency loan agreement worth $ 750 million with the IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) of Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank, located in GIFT City, Gandhinagar. A NTPC statement said this unsecured, syndicated External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) facility comprises a base amount of $ 500 million and a greenshoe option of $ 250 million.

NTPC said proceeds from the facility will be utilized by the company to fund capital expenditure for ongoing and upcoming capacity addition programs, flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) projects, renewable energy and hydro-based projects. The power producer will also refinance existing ECBs, in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s ECB Guidelines.

Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank acted as Mandated Lead Arrangers, underwriting $ 500 million (base amount by Bank of Baroda) and $ 250 million (greenshoe portion by HDFC Bank).

The loan has a door-to-door tenor of 10 years, with an average maturity of 7 years, the statement added.

This is the largest foreign currency lending by Bank of Baroda and the first-ever foreign currency loan extended by HDFC Bank to NTPC, the statement said.