NCC Ltd, formerly Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd, on Sunday announced that the company will achieve financial closure by May for the Rs 7,000-crore, 1,320-MW thermal power project it is setting up in partnership with Gayatri Projects at Krishnapatnam near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

The company hinted it may dilute stake in NCC Infra, its subsidiary, to a private equity player in the course of the year, to meet the equity requirement for some projects.

PFC and REC have agreed to pump in Rs 3,200 crore, which is part of the Rs 5,200-crore debt portion, and for the rest, NCC is negotiating with SBI and ICICI Bank. “We do not see much hurdle in closing the equity portion,” Mr Y.D. Murthy, Executive Vice-President, Finance, said.

Coal linkage

The company recently picked up 55 per cent stake in Nelcast thermal project at Krishnapatnam for Rs 150 crore. The coal linkage for the project has been achieved with Coal India Ltd agreeing to re-allot the coal initially meant for 1320-MW thermal project at Sompeta in Andhra Pradesh.

“The power project will have 70 per cent coal from Mahanadi Coal Fields, to be brought to Krishnapatnam through Paradip port. Rest will be imported. About 830 acres required for the project has been acquired, and all mandatory clearances, including environment are in place,” he said.

“We have applied afresh for environmental clearance for the Sompeta power project and are confident that we will secure the necessary clearances from the Ministry for Environments and Forests, which will enable us to implement it during the XII Plan period,” he said.

Providing business outlook, Mr Murthy said that the company was confident of achieving a top line growth of 20 per cent a year over the next two-three years with about 15 per cent of the business from overseas. “We now have an order book of about Rs 17,200 crore and hope to consolidate this further,” he said.

“The last couple of quarters have been tough for infrastructure companies, both in terms of securing new orders, and during implementation due to delays in clearances from the client side. To add to this, the interest rates have been causing concern. All these put together have impacted the margins. We will be able to close the year with revenues of Rs 6,600 crore against initial projection of Rs 7.000 crore,” he said.

The company said that it will be able to commission two more road project before April this year. NCC plans to tread cautiously with regard to real estate business.

Name, logo change

The company management on Sunday announced name change to NCC Ltd, with a new logo with immediate effect.

Mr A. Ranga Raju, Managing Director of NCC, said, “The new name and logo reflect our rapid transformation from a large construction company to an integrated infrastructure group, creating immense value for both the internal and external stakeholders.

“The rebranding symbolises remarkable reputation and trust we have earned through 32 years of dedicated well structured business. The company has changed logos of all group companies too with immediate effect.”

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