SBI signs $152-mn export pact with Japanese bank

Agreement was signed by SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and JBIC Governor Hiroshi Watanabe in Tokyo

State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday signed a loan agreement with the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) to set up an export credit line in two currencies worth $152 million. The total amount in the export credit line consists of 13.5 billion yen and $21 million, a release said, adding the loan is co-financed with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTMU).

This credit line will be utilised by Meja Urja Nigam to finance the procurement of steam turbine generators from Japan’s Toshiba Corp and its Indian subsidiary to construct a super-critical pressure coal-fired power plant (660 Mwx2 units) in Meja, Uttar Pradesh. The plant is an equal joint venture between NTPC, a Central PSU, and UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam. The agreement was signed by SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya and JBIC Governor Hiroshi Watanabe in Tokyo. "India has a strong appetite for infrastructural development and I see a greater role for JBIC in supporting Indian commercial banks and infrastructure companies,” Bhattacharya said.

This is the third such occasion that India's largest lender has participated with JBIC in a project funding, the release said.