i Develop Stocks Advisory

RBI okays RPower’s $2bn debt proposal The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given go ahead for Reliance Power’s proposal to raise $2 billion in foreign corporate borrowing from a clutch of banks and financial institutions abroad. China Development Bank (CDB), Korean Exim, ABN Amro, Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC will be some of the top foreign banks that will pitch in with funds for RPower’s borrowing abroad to part-finance the 4000 MW Sasan power venture. A top RPower executive confirmed that the RBI has cleared the company’s proposal. He added that whether the loan would be sourced from CDB or the Korean Exim bank would depend on the nationality of equipment supplier for the Sasan power project located in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. Choice of the bank is obviously inter-twined with the equipment supplier, as RPower would access funds in the form of foreign export credit. RPower’s External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) is apparently the largest overseas borrowing cleared by the RBI after it had clamped down on both equity and debt inflows