CPSUs to float Bonds for about Rs 25,000 crore,says AEP study

New Delhi, Apr 28 (UNI) The Central Public Sector Units (CPSUs) will tap the debt market to the extent of Rs 25,327 crore for funding their investment plans in 2006-07 and resort to External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) for another Rs 7142 crore data collected by Eco Pulse (AEP) group of the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) today said.

The CPSUs will raise Rs 66,257 crore through internal resources to fund their total investment Plan of over Rs 1,42,000 as indicated in an earlier study, said said the study conducted by the AEP group.

An amount of Rs 23,920 crore would be pumped into the Power sector in the fiscal 2006-07. To raise this amount, the PSUs in this sector are set to float bonds worth Rs 9009 crore in 2006-07, as against Rs 6661 crore in the corresponding period in the previous year. An amount of Rs 5423 crore would be generated through internal resources and Rs 3587 crore through ECBs, said a release from ASSOCHAM.

The National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. has firmed up total investment outlay of Rs 11,325 crore for 2006-07 and will be floating bonds for Rs 5045 crore in 2006-07 as compared to Rs 3590 crore in the previous year. The Corporation would raise Rs 3105 crore through internal resources and Rs 2258 crore through ECBs.

Bonds worth Rs 2506 crore will be floated by Power Grid Corporation.

It will raise Rs 1084 crore through internal resources and Rs 1058 crore raised through ECBs, for funding its investment plan of Rs 4849 crores in the year 2006-07, the release added.

For part funding its investment plan of Rs 22,764 crore, the Ministry of Railways will raise Rs 10,669 crore through internal resources in 2006-07 as against Rs 7237 crore in the previous year 2005-06. Bonds worth Rs 5170 crore would be floated by Indian Railways in the current fiscal against Rs 3843 crore in the year 2005-06.

The AEP study found that mega investments are lined up all over the Communication and IT sector in the State-owned firms like Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. BSNL has plans to float bonds for Rs 3655 crore and raise amount worth Rs 13,276 crore through internal resources in the year 2006-07 to invest a huge sum of Rs 16,931 crore in 2006-07.

The Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways has lined up huge investments of Rs 12,893 crore in 2006-07, with bulk investments going into the road sector. National Highways Authority of India has a total plan outlay of Rs 10302 crore in 2006-07, of which Rs 3500 crore will be raised through bonds.

The Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL), the nodal agency for harnessing nuclear energy for power generation in the country is set to float bonds worth Rs 1394 crore in this fiscal for meeting its investment needs.

Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty has a total plan investment of Rs 6758 crore in the year 2006-07. Within this sector, Housing and Urban Development Corporation will float bonds worth Rs 2139 crore and raise Rs 318 crore through internal resources, the study pointed out.

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