Nuclear Power Corp to raise Rs15,000 crore debt

State-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) expects to tie up Rs15,000 crore debt for its Jaitapur nuclear power plant by April-June, its director of finance J K Ghai said.

The amount is part of the debt for the first two units of the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) to be set up at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.

Ghai said, “We are in talks with top French banks such as BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Calyon, Natixis and also HSBC, and we are hopeful of completing the process in 6-8 months.”

NCPIL signed an agreement with French nuclear power major Areva SA in February for the setting up of six EPR units with a combined capacity of 10,000 megawatt. The units will be set up in pairs. The first two units will have a capacity of 1,650 mw each.

Ghai said the final cost of the project is being worked out. “But assuming the cost per megawatt to be Rs10 crore because the reactors are imported, the total project cost should be Rs1 lakh crore,” he said at the sidelines of a conference.

NPCIL is looking at a debt-equity ratio of 70:30 for the project. The cost per mw using indigenous technology is about Rs6.5-7 crore.

“If the first two units cost Rs33,000 crore, then out of the debt component of Rs23,000 crore, we will raise about Rs15,000 crore through external commercial borrowings and export credit agencies. The remaining Rs8,000 crore will be raised in the domestic market or through a combination of domestic and overseas sources,” Ghai said.

He said that the interest rate should be in the range of 5.5-6.5% and the repayment period 25 years. NPCIL is also in talks with Coface, a receivables management firm, the equivalent of Exim Bank for the European Union.

SK Jain, chairman & managing director, NPCIL, said the firm should begin work on the first twin units by the end of next year or beginning of 2011. The subsequent twin units will be set up after a gap of three-and-a-half years. All the six units are expected to be commissioned in 12-15 years.

He said the government will begin handing over the 938 hectares of land for the project on Thursday and NCPIL expects to get possession of all of it by year-end.

India has an installed nuclear power capacity of 4,120 mw and targets a capacity of 63,000 mw by 2030 and 4,70,000 mw by 2050.