Jindal Power, a subsidiary of Jindal Steel and Power, has tied up Rs 5,418-crore loans for two units of its upcoming 2,400-MW generation plant in Chhattisgarh.

The project at Tamnar consists of four units of 600 MW each and will cost about Rs 13,500 crore. The first two units will cost about Rs 7,740 crore and is being funded with a debt-equity mix of 70:30.

“All the clearances are in place for the project. The first two units are near commissioning. They (the first two units) will cost approximately Rs 7,740 crore, of which debt is Rs 5,418 crore. This is being funded by a consortium of nine banks, led by State Bank of India,” Jindal Power Director (Finance) B.S. Raman told reporters here today.

The two units will get 65 per cent of their coal requirement from Coal India, while the remainder will be met through imports.

Jindal Power is also trying to start at least one additional 600-MW unit in the current financial year, though it is yet to secure a coal linkage, Raman said. Overall, the project will need 4 million tonnes of coal annually.

Jindal Power currently has a generation capacity of 1,000 MW at the same location. The station has been operating at a plant load factor of over 95 per cent in the past two years and the power is sold mostly through short and medium term power purchase agreements.

The company is targeting 10,000 MW of generation capacity by 2020 at an investment of about Rs 70,000-80,000 crore, Raman said.

About 7,000 MW of new capacity will be added in India, either by setting up a new plant or acquiring one, while the remainder will be developed overseas, mostly in Africa. The company is in talks with government agencies in Botswana and Senegal for setting up plants, he said.

The cost of generating power in African countries is about Rs 11-12 crore per megawatt, compared with the Indian average of Rs 7-8 crore per megawatt, Raman said.

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