NEW DELHI: The total outstanding credit to the power sector from various banks amounted to Rs 5.83 lakh crore at the end of 2014 but the government has no plans to reschedule the loans to electricity generating firms. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said while the RBI does not maintain details of loans received by the approved power projects, however, bank-wise information on loans outstanding to power sector was available.
As per the data, the total outstanding loan to the power sector from various banks were at Rs 5,82,269 crore as on end of December 2014.State Bank of India had the highest exposure to the power sector with a total loan amount of Rs 1,00,085 crore, followed by Canara Bank with Rs 45,620 crore.The other major banks which had significant outstanding loans to the energy/power sector include Punjab National Bank (Rs 33,779 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 33,263 crore), Bank of India (Rs 30,791 crore) and IDBI Bank Ltd (Rs 26,502 crore).Among the private banks, ICICI had an exposure of Rs 13,646 crore, HDFC Bank Rs 8,962 crore.
In a separate reply to another question, Goyal said the government has no plans to reschedule loans to power companies.”Commercial banks and financial institutions such as Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation etc take commercial decision and reschedule loans whenever justified,” the minister said.
In reply to another question, Goyal said some of the old power plants in India have been proposed for renovation and modernisation with the help of Industrial Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and KfW Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).He said the total financial assistance provided for energy efficiency renovation and modernisation at Bandel thermal power plant in West Bengal (Unit-5, 210 MW) is USD 93.66 million, with IBRD contributing USD 77.01 million and Gobal Environment Facility (GEF) grant of around USD 16.65 million.Similarly, Koradi plant (Unit 6, 210 MW) in Maharashtra has been provided a financial assistance of USD 71.45 million, comprising IRBD loan of USD 59 million and grant of around USD 12.45 million.
The minister further said KfW Development Bank, Germany has earmarked a soft loan of 90 million euro to two coal-fired units at Nashik owned by MAHAGENCO and at Kolaghat owned by West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd.JICA has also provided assistance of Rs 344 crore to Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation for the life extension of Umium Stage II hydro power plant in the state.
