Petronet seeks $1.4 bn loan to fund petrochemical plant, LNG terminal

By Saikat Das and Rakesh Sharma 

India’s largest importer of natural gas Petronet LNG Ltd. is seeking a loan of at least 120 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) for a new petrochemical plant and an LNG terminal, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Local lenders including Axis Bank, State Bank of India and Union Bank of India are considering to join the facility, which is among the company’s largest fundraising exercises, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The borrower is seeking bids from banks in groups or individually, they said, adding that SBI Capital Markets has been appointed as adviser for the deal.

 

The facility for triple-A rated Petronet comes at a period of muted activity for India’s loans space, where bank lending grew 9.5per cent as of June 27, the lowest growth rate since March 2022, according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India. If the financing goes through, it would be one of the biggest local currency loans for the country this year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. 

 

Spokespeople for Axis Bank, Petronet, SBI, SBI Capital Markets and Union Bank of India didn’t immediately reply to emails from Bloomberg News seeking comment.

 

Proceeds from the loan will partially fund the construction of a new petrochemical complex in Dahej, located in the southwest coast of Gujarat in India, the people said, adding that it will help diversify the company’s earnings beyond the LNG space. The project is estimated to cost 206.85 billion rupees, according to the company’s website.

 

The New Delhi-based firm is also setting up a separate five million tons land-based LNG import terminal at Gopalpur, located on the east coast in Odisha.

 

The latest loan could carry a tenor of more than 10 years, the people said. The pricing could be lower than SBI’s one-month marginal cost of funds based lending rate of 7.95per cent currently, a benchmark gauge of local currency borrowings, two of the people said.