Reliance Power achieves financial closure for Krishnapatnam UMPP

The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power Limited (RPL), today, announced that it has achieved financial closure for its Rs 17,500 crore ultra mega power project (UMPP) at Krishnapatnam, in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. The project is being implemented by Coastal Andhra Power Limited (CAPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RPL. The project would be financed via a 75:25 debt-equity ratio.IDBI Bank is the lead arranger for the debt component, worth Rs 13,125 crore, along with Power Finance Corporation (PFC). A consortium of fifteen banks and financial institutions would participate in the financing arrangements for the 4,000 MW venture. The consortium includes Rural Electrification Corporation, LIC, UCO Bank, Union Bank, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank, Punjab National Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, Vijaya Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Yes Bank and Indian Bank. 

Scheduled to be commissioned in various phases during 2013-15, the project would supply 800 MW power, each, to the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and 1,200 MW to the home state of Andhra Pradesh, at a levelized tariff of Rs 2.33 per kilo-watt hour (kWh). Commenting on this latest development, J P Chalasani, CEO of Reliance Power said, “With the financial closure for the Krishnapatnam UMPP, we have completed the financing arrangements for two UMPPs awarded to us by the Government of India and have secured funding for a capacity of 10,000 MW. The Krishnapatnam financing is an important milestone as we undertake the implementation of our power project portfolio of over 37,000 MW." Reliance Power bagged this project in November 2007, beating Larsen &Toubro and Sterlite Industries, which quoted tariffs of Rs 2.68 and Rs 4.18 per unit, respectively, in a global competitive bid. The Krishnapatnam UMPP is the second of the three UMPPs that are being developed by the Anil Ambani group. The other two UMPPs are located at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh and Tilaya in Jharkhand. While both, Sasan and Tilaya are pit-head projects, Krishnapatnam is an imported coal-based thermal power project.