Essar Power raises Rs750 crore in Rupee bond
Essar Power Ltd, amongst India’s leading private sector power producers, and a subsidiary of London-listed Essar Energy, today said that it has completed an 11 year, Rs750 crore ($125 million), rupee denominated bond offering, said in the company's press release.
This is the second of a number of Rupee bonds to be offered by Essar Power, which when completed will total Rs5,000 crore ($850 million). The proceeds will be used to make repayments on existing loan facilities within the power business, particularly relating to its new coal-fired power projects.
Essar Power was assigned a credit rating of A+ by ratings agency Credit Analysis and Research Ltd (CARE), of Mumbai, in October 2012 in respect of the proposed Rs5,000 crore bond issue.
The new bonds issued will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and will be repaid from 2022 to 2024. However, it is currently intended that this bond issue will be refinanced with a Rs3,000 crore (US$500 million) credit enhanced Rupee bond issue in due course.
During FY 2013 Essar Power completed a number of coal-fired power projects and now has 3,910 megawatts of operational capacity. Work is progressing on further projects intended to take Essar Power’s operational portfolio to 6,700 MW.
Mr Deepak Maheshwari, Essar Energy Chief Financial Officer, said, “This bond issue will allow our power business to benefit from longer debt maturity timeframes and lower interest rates compared to our existing debt facilities. Essar Energy is well positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for power in India.”
About Essar Power
Essar Power, a subsidiary of LSE-listed Essar Energy, is one of India's leading private power producers with a 14-year operating track record. Essar Power has seven operational power plants in India and one operational power plant in Algoma, Canada, with a total installed generation capacity of 3,910 MW. This capacity is increasing to 6,700 MW. Essar Power also has access to approximately 500 mt of coal resources across seven coal blocks in India and overseas.
