JSW Energy to raise debt to triple power generation
JSW Energy to raise debt to triple power generation
Mumbai: Power producer JSW Energy Ltd will raise another Rs2,000 crore in debt to secure more coal assets and more than triple its generating capacity by the end of the financial year ending March 2011. .
“We will need 3 million tonnes of coal and are looking at long-term purchases and also mines in the next six months," vice chairman N.K. Jain said on Friday, when the company also announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 2010.
The Sajjan Jindal-owned company reported a tripling of profit to Rs298.64 crore in the quarter, due to a 251% increase in generating capacity to 995 megawatts (MW), even as realisation per unit fell.
The company said it is on track to add another 1,200 MW at Ratnagiri, where the first of four units will be commissioned in the first week of August. Also on the cards this fiscal is a 1,080 MW plant in Barmer, Rajasthan.
JSW, a sister company of India’s third largest steel maker JSW Steel Ltd, earns 60% of its revenue by selling power at short-term market rates.
Commenting on the additional debt burden for expansion, chief financial officer Pramod Menon said the company had no plans to dilute equity.
“We may raise another Rs2,000 crore and pay back about 100-200 crore this year. But we are also working on refinancing our debt to bring the interest rate lower to below 10% from about 11.40% per annum currently," he said, adding that the firm will try to conserve cash for expansion.
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