Ind-Ra assigns investment-grade credit rating to Runaya Refining

Runaya Refining Tuesday said India Ratings and Research has assigned it an investment-grade credit rating, on the back of continuation of timely implementation of the project, successful tie-up with foreign technology company and low working capital requirement.

"Runaya Refining has been assigned a long-term issuer rating of 'IND BBB-' (with stable outlook) by India Ratings and Research," Runaya Refining said in a statement.

Instruments with the rating 'IND BBB' are considered to have moderate degree of safety regarding timely servicing of financial obligations. Such instruments carry moderate credit risk.

Runaya Refining is a sustainability solutions company with operations based on its licensed proprietary patented technology.

The rating is assigned on the basis of Runaya Refining's operational linkage with a strong counterparty Vedanta Ltd, continuation of timely implementation of the project, successful tie-up with foreign technology company, low working capital requirement, and high customer concentration.

"Runaya is assigned investment-grade credit rating, in spite of being in project phase, demonstrating strong project dynamics. This also validates the robust financials of the company and its lean operational model," Annanya Agarwal, chief executive offier, Runaya Refining, said.

According to India Ratings and Research, the definitive agreement that Runaya Refining has entered into with Vedanta for the processing of aluminium dross till March 2023 will contribute steadily to the topline of the project. The company is also implementing hot and cold dross units near Vedanta's cast houses in Jharsuguda in Odisha to recover metal content.

Another reason cited is that since commencing operations from October 2018, Runaya Refining is running on track with commissioning of units and expansion of capacity.

Runaya is expected to commission the hot dross processing plant and briquette plant by October 2019, which is on schedule, the statement said.