NPCIL plans to borrow ?3 bn

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) plans to raise ¤3 billion ($4 billion) in overseas debt to fund a project to be built in partnership with Areva SA, the world’s biggest maker of atomic reactors.

Mumbai-based NPCIL, the state-run monopoly atomic energy producer, received bids from 15 international banks, including 10 French institutions, for the loan, Chairman Shreyans Kumar Jain said in a telephone interview.

“Our expression was for ¤3 billion but we have got commitments for ¤8 billion,” he said.

The project with Areva, to be built at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, will be India’s first large-capacity plant using overseas equipment after a three-decade global nuclear-trade ban was lifted last year. India plans to add 60,000 Mw of nuclear capacity by 2032 from the current 4,120 Mw as it seeks to end shortages of as much as 18 per cent of demand.

Last month, NPCIL signed a preliminary agreement to buy two Areva reactors of 1,650-Mw capacity each to be set up at Jaitapur. The company may increase the number of reactors to six to form its first “nuclear park.”

Debt will fund 70 per cent of the project, Jain has said. The Indian company will pay toward 30 per cent equity in the Jaitapur project from cash reserves of Rs 11,000 crore ($2.2 billion), he said.

Nuclear Power expects to complete raising the funds after signing the final contract with Areva by the end of this year, he said.

The French company will supply uranium to run the plants for 60 years, Anne Lauvergeon, Areva’s CEO, said last month.