PTC India in talks with investors, including Hong Kong-based SAIF Partners, on selling a stake in unit PTC India Financial Services

PTC India Ltd., the nation’s largest power trader, is in talks with investors including Hong Kong- based SAIF Partners Ltd. on selling a stake in unit PTC India Financial Services Ltd., Chairman Tantra Narayan Thakur said. PTC India Financial Services, a company backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Macquarie Group Ltd., may sell shares to “private investors, through a public sale or both,” around September, Thakur, who is also chairman of the unit, said today.

“We are in talks with a few investors including SAIF about selling a stake but we haven’t finalized anything yet,” Thakur said in a telephone interview from New Delhi. “We haven’t received proposals from any of the investors.”

Parent PTC is trying to tap investors’ interests in India, the world’s fastest-growing economy after China and Brazil. Overseas investments in India’s stocks and bonds reached a record 834.2 billion rupees ($17.8 billion) in 2009. PTC India Financial Services is raising funds to invest in power projects. India plans to double its installed electricity capacity in the next seven years to meet energy demand and reduce blackouts. The government has raised at least 102 billion rupees from selling shares in three state-owned power-related companies since January.

State-owned PTC has a 77 percent stake in PTC India Financial Services, also known as PFS, and plans to retain a 51 percent holding after the sale, Thakur said . Goldman Sachs and Macquarie currently hold 11.5 percent each, he said. JM Financial Ltd., SBI Capital Markets Ltd. and ICICI Securities Ltd. will advise the sale, Thakur had said.