The Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), a state-owned electric utility company, has asked for the approval of its shareholders to raise ₹200 billion (~$2.84 billion) through bonds or debentures on private placement basis in 2019-20, according to its BSE filing.

Earlier, the board of directors of the company had approved raising ₹200 billion (~$2.84 billion) in up to twenty tranches depending upon the requirement of funds during the financial year 2019-20 for the financing of PGCIL’s capital expenditure requirements, providing inter corporate loans to wholly-owned subsidiaries and for the general corporate purposes.

An amount of ₹250 billion (~$ 3.55 billion) to ₹300 billion (~$4.26 billion) is being considered as expected capital expenditure (CAPEX) during FY 2019-20. In order to have a debt equity mix of 70:30, an amount of ₹175 billion (~$2.49 billion) to ₹210 billion (~$ 2.98 billion) is estimated to be mobilized as debt and balance ₹75 billion (~$1.07 billion) to ₹90 billion (~$1.28 billion) from internal resources during FY 2019-20.

The company, in its BSE filing, stated that the proposed borrowing for FY 2019-20 will be within overall borrowing limits of ₹1800 billion (~$25.59 billion).

Recently, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) wrote to the PGCIL, which is the central transmission utility of India that is responsible for transmission of electricity through Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS). In its letter, SECI has provided PGCIL with tentative plans of tendering capacities under its programs for solar and hybrid projects up to 2021.

Earlier, Mercom had reported that PGCIL was seeking loan assistance of $1 billion (~₹ 67.82 billion) from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for green energy transmission corridor. The loan constituted a sovereign guaranteed loan of $500 million (~₹33.91 billion) and a non-sovereign loan of $500 million (~₹33.91 billion) to support grid infrastructure development.

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer