NTPC on Friday announced that it has signed a foreign currency loan agreement worth $750 million with the IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) of Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank, located in GIFT City, Gandhinagar.“This unsecured, syndicated External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) facility comprises a base amount of $500 million and a greenshoe option of $250 million. Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank acted as Mandated Lead Arrangers, underwriting $500 million (base amount by Bank of Baroda) and $250 million (greenshoe portion by HDFC Bank), respectively,” the company said in a statement.
The facility carries a door-to-door tenor of 10 years, with an average maturity of 7 years. Proceeds from the loan will be used by NTPC to fund capital expenditure for its ongoing and upcoming capacity expansion projects, including flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems, renewable energy and hydro-based projects, as well as to refinance existing ECBs—all in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India’s ECB guidelines.
This transaction marks the largest foreign currency lending by Bank of Baroda and the first-ever foreign currency loan extended by HDFC Bank to NTPC.NTPC is targeting a diversified energy portfolio exceeding 130 GW by 2032, with a strong focus on reducing its carbon footprint.
The loan agreement was signed on Wednesday in GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, by Arvind Babu, General Manager (Finance), NTPC; SN Patra, DGM & Head – IFSC Banking Unit, and Rajiv Mishra, Chief Manager, Bank of Baroda; along with Moti Thakur, Deputy Vice President, and Ashutosh Kumar, Senior Vice President, HDFC Bank.