China Construction Bank contributes to USD 225 million syndicated loan for working capital purposes for the Sipat Super Thermal Power Plant

China Construction Bank contribution to USD 225 million syndicated loan for working capital purposes for the Sipat Super Thermal Power Plant On September 21, 2006, National Thermal Power Corporation signed a term facilities agreement worth USD 225 million with 32 international commercial lenders (including China Construction Bank) to provide working capital for the Sipat Super Thermal Power Plant (Sipat STPP), and Kahalgaon Thermal Power Plant (Kahalgaon TPP) coal-fired power plant projects.

The agreement was signed as part of a larger non-sovereign loan from the Asian Development Bank (ABD) worth USD 300 million to partially finance the construction of the Sipat STPP and the Kahalgaon TPP.

The loan was separated into two tranches; tranche A was worth USD 75 million and was funded by the ADB, while tranche B was worth USD 225 million and was funded by 32 international commercial lenders led by the Bank of America under the ADB's Complementary Financing Scheme. Both tranches derived interest rates from the 6-month USD LIBOR, which as of September 21, 2006 was 5.42%.

Tranche A had a maturity of 11-years and a grace period of 7-years; tranche B had a maturity of 7-years and a grace period of 4-years. Tranche B was reportedly oversubscribed by 290%, drawing USD 640 million in funds from over 80 banks. The first disbursement was made on October 25, 2006. The final disbursement was made on March 28, 2008.

As of September 30, 2009, the outstanding amount of tranche A was INR 3,643,000,000, while the outstanding amount of tranche B was INR 10,928,000,000.

Sipat STPP consisted of two stages; stage I included 3 supercritical units with a total generating capacity of 1,980 MW, while stage II included 2 subcritical units with a total generating capacity of 1,000 MW.

Kahalgaon TPP only received financing for its second stage, which consisted of a single subcritical unit capable of generating 500 MW.

Sipat STPP stage I units were expected to reach commercial operations date between April 2008 and December 2009, while the stage II units were expected to reach commercial operations date between June and December of 2007. In reality, the stage I units reached commercial operations date on October 1, 2011, May 25, 2012, and August 1, 2012.

The stage II units reached commercial operations date on June 30, 2008, and January 1, 2009.

Kahalgaon TPP stage II was expected to reach commercial operations date in March 2007, but actually reached commercial operations on March 20, 2010. Plant performance of all units following commercial operations date has been deemed satisfactory.