Government owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) may go for a fresh market borrowing to fund its 11 th plan capacity addition programme of 2774 mw after it recently raised Rs 2,850 crore from the domestic market to fund its ongoing projects at Kaigah, Rajasthan, Kudarkulam and Kalapakkam.

An NPCIL official told Fe that the country?s nuclear major would need to invest another Rs 3,600 crore for the remaining years (2010-2011 and 2011-2012) of the 11 th plan period for successful completion of its planned capacity addition and the Cabinet has cleared the proposal for an additional investment need.

The Rs 3,600 crore investment would be a combination of internal funding, market borrowing and budgetary support as well.

Although NPCIL did not divulge the investment amount, which it is making in the 11 th plan period, NPCIL chairman and managing director SK Jain earlier said NPCIL?s cumulative investments would be to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore for 10,000 mw of capacity addition by 2020.

For the 11 th plan period it has targeted a capacity addition of 2774 mw through Kaigah (202 mw), Rajasthan-6 (202 mw), Kudarkulam-1 (950 mw) Kudarkulam-2 (950 mw) and Kalapakkam (470 mw) projects to take up the country?s total nuclear power capacity to 7114 mw from its present installed capacity of 4340 mw.

According to the official, of the Rs 2,850 crore, which NPCIL has already raised, Rs 1,500 crore was raised through term loans from banks and Rs 1,350 crore through bond issue. In fact, the total funding of Rs 1 lakh crore would be done in a debt equity ratio of 70:30 of which NPCIL would have equity contribution worth Rs 20,000 crore. NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation and National Aluminium Company would make a total equity contribution of Rs 10,000 crore, the official said.

NPCIL?s debt in the Indian market as of now is Rs 8,600 crore, with interests costing around 6.40 ? 6.45% of the borrowing per annum.

So far NPCIL has not been taking any budgetary support from the government but Prithiviraj Chavan, Union minister of state (independent charge) for science and technology, recently communicated to NPCIL that the Centre would provide budgetary support for investment in the remaining years of the 11 th plan period though he did not mention the amount.