Essar Power raises Rs 1,000 cr via rupee bonds

This latest tranche of 11-year bonds will be repaid from 2017 to 2024, and will be listed on BSE

Essar Power today raised Rs 1,000 crore in debt, via rupee denominated bond offering. This is the third bond issue that the company did this year, and will use it to retire some of its debt.

This latest tranche of 11-year bonds will be repaid from 2017 to 2024, and will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. In July, Essar raised Rs 750 crore, and Rs 629 crore in May this year. The company has a target to raise as much Rs 5,000 crore via bonds, and is half way through it.

“This further rupee bond issue will allow our power business to benefit from longer debt maturity timeframe and lower interest rates compared to our existing debt facilities,” said Deepak Maheshwari, chief financial officer of Essar Energy. The company has a total debt of around Rs 16,500 crore.

In the last financial year, Essar Power completed work on many of its power projects. It currently has an operational capacity of 3,910 megawatts. “Work is progressing on further projects,” the Essar said. It  has plans to increase its operational power capacity to 6,700 megawatts.  

“Essar Energy is well positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for power in India,” said  Maheshwari. In the meanwhile, two of the company's power plants have been suffering from lower capacity utilisations as coal supply to Mahaan and Salaya have been affected. The earnings from these power plants have reduced and extended timelines of repayment will help the company maintain its payment schedules.