SBI, Japanese bank ink deal for UP power plant

Mumbai, Sept 1: State Bank of India (SBI) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Monday signed a loan agreement to set up an export credit line for a power plant in Uttar Pradesh, a statement said here.

The loan will be co-financed by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (BTMU). It will bring the total co-financing amount to JPY 13.5 billion ($21 million), the statement issued by SBI said.

This credit line will be utilised by Meja Urja Nigam Private Ltd. (MUNPL) to finance procurement of steam turbine generator equipments from a Japan company and its subsidiary in India to construct a super critical pressure coal-fired 1320 MW (660MW X 2 units) power plant in Meja, Uttar Pradesh.

MUNPL is a joint venture equally invested by National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd.

The agreement was signed by SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and JBIC Governor Hiroshi Watanabe in Tokyo.

The loan will be co-financed by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.

"India has a strong appetite for infrastructural development and I see a greater role for JBIC in supporting the Indian commercial banks and infrastructure companies," Bhattacharya said on the occasion.

She assured the JBIC of all support and urged it to look at India as a "land of unique opportunities".

"Today's agreement with JBIC is a landmark agreement in this direction and such large-scale funding will benefit all the parties involved," she added.

This is the third such occasion that SBI has participated with JBIC in a project funding.

IANS