PFC, REC to lend APGenco Rs 9,500 cr for power plants

Giving a major fillip to the cash-starved Power Generation Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (APGenco), the state-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) have come forward to lend Rs 9,506 crore for setting up two major power plants in the state.

PFC will lend Rs 6,806 crore to APGenco, a state-government undertaking, for setting up 2x800 Mw Vadarevu Thermal Power Project (Phase-1) in Prakasam district. The total cost of this project is Rs 8,507.60 crore.

The PFC and the APGenco will sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) soon, Genco Managing Director K Vijayanand said. PFC would lend the money at a reduced interest rate of 10.50 per cent, he said.

Vijayanand met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah here today, along with Principal Secretary (Energy) Sutirtha Bhattacharya and Genco Director (Finance) D Prabhakar Rao, and briefed him about the loan. State Chief Secretary S V Prasad was also present at the meeting.

REC, on the other hand, would extend a loan of Rs 2,700 crore to the long-delayed 700 Mw gas-based power generating station (Phase-1) to be set up in Karimnagar district.

This is the first time that APGenco has been borrowing such huge loans from PFC and REC, official sources here said.

These two projects would add 2300 Mw of power to the state in the next four years, the sources added.

Rosaiah has asked the APGenco officials to ensure completion of all projects on time.