Sterlite Power has announced the successful refinancing of the loan for Gurgaon Palwal Transmission Ltd [GPTL] project, within three months of the project becoming fully operational in April 2020.
Refinancing has resulted in an almost 300 bps reduction in interest costs.
The new financing to prepay the existing project loan of Rs.800 crore has been arranged by HDFC Bank. The new facility has been availed at significantly favourable terms demonstrating the considerably improved risk profile of the project post achievement of CoD (Date of Commercial Operation), a release from Sterlite Power said.
This project has implemented India’s first vertical GIS substations — built at Prithla, Kadarpur and Sohna, all in Haryana.
With this transaction, Sterlite Power has achieved a reduction of almost 300 basis points in the interest cost to be incurred by the project on a per annum basis. The refinancing of this critical ISTS project also highlights the keen interest of financial institutions in funding power transmission projects with stable long-term cash flows.
Pratik Agarwal, Managing Director, Sterlite Power, said, “We are pleased to conclude refinancing of our GPTL project loan by India’s leading financial institution, HDFC Bank. It is a testimony of the continued trust reposed on us by the banking and investor community for our ability to deliver challenging projects on time, with the highest standards of quality and safety, while delivering strong returns.”
Commissioned in April this year, this project connects around 2,000 mw additional power to Gurugram and Palwal areas in Haryana.
Successfully commissioned in the month of April 2020, the GPTL project connects around 2,000 mw additional power to Gurugram and Palwal areas in Haryana. Apart from making Gurugram DG-set free, this project will enable access to reliable power for more than 3 million households in the state.
This project has implemented India’s first vertical GIS substations built at Prithla, Kadarpur and Sohna. Apart from saving land, this innovation has resulted in offsetting more than 18,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year as compared to conventional layout of a similar GIS substation.
Featured photograph, sourced from Sterlite Power, shows a project element of the Gurgaon-Palwal transmission scheme, commissioned in April 2020.