IFC to extend $50 mn loan to PTC Financial

International Finance Corporation (IFC) will extend $50 million worth of loans to PTC India Financial Services for development of clean energy projects in the country.

The financial services arm of Power Trading Corporation (PTC) has signed a term sheet with IFC for extending the loans, according to people in-the-know of the development.

This is the second tranche of funds received by PTC Financial Services (PFS) from a multilateral lending agency. Last year, the company received $26 million from a German Bank, DEG.

PFS is currently in the process of raising about Rs 100 crore through the issue of tax-free infrastructure bonds. The issue, which opened on February 9, closes on March 14.

 

As per the terms of the issue, the company will raise Rs 30 crore, with an option to retain over-subscription up to an additional Rs 70 crore.

Investment in these infrastructure bonds is eligible for tax deduction.

The private investment arm of the World Bank, IFC, has been investing in the renewable energy space since last year. The loan provided by IFC will only be used by PFS to finance power projects focused on clean technology.

At present, the country has 16,786.98 Mw of renewable energy capacity, which constitutes 9.9% of the entire electricity generation capacity in India. This excludes 37,367.40 Mw of installed hydro power generation capacity, which is also a renewable source of energy.

Taking together all sources of renewable energy, the country meets 31% of its power requirements from such sources of energy.

PFS usually invests its corpus in power exchange, wind turbine manufacturing units and power projects based on coal, hydro, bio-mass, wind and solar.

PTC holds a 77.60% stake in PFS, while Goldman Sachs and Macquarie India Holdings hold a 11.20% stake each.