Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), the nternational arm of Japan Financial Corporation, on Wednesday signed two agreements to lend Rs 741 crore to L&T-MHI Boilers Private Ltd (LTMB) and L&T-MHI Turbine Generators Private Ltd (LTMT) for manufacturing and sale of thermal power generation facilities in India.

According to the loan agreements, LTMB and LTMT will manufacture high-efficiency boilers and steam turbines for power generation by using MHI?s advanced supercritical pressure technology. The boilers will be manufactured at Hazira in Gujarat and sold in the Indian market. The government has planned to add more than 78,700 MW to 1,40,000 mw power generation capacity in the 11 th plan period ending March 2012. However, the power supply has remained poor even as the demand has increased fueled by higher economic activities in the last five years.

?There are especially high expectations for building supercritical coal-fired power plants that can achieve a stable power supply using the abundance of coal in India while decreasing the burden on the environment. Under these circumstances, this business project by LTMB and LTMT is expected to contribute to removing bottlenecks in India?s power infrastructure and improving the country?s investment climate and economic growth,? JBIC said in a press release.

LTMB designs, manufactures and sells supercritical pressure boilers used in coal-fired power generation plants, while LTMT manufactures steam turbines, generators, equipment used in coal-fired power generation plants.