KPI Green Energy to raise $363 million from SBI, top executives say

By Khushi Malhotra

India's KPI Green Energy NSE:KPIGREEN is set to raise 32 billion rupees ($363.39 million) through a loan from the country's largest lender to expand production capacity at its renewable power plants, top KPI executives told Reuters on Tuesday.

The loan approval comes amid the Indian government's green energy push targeting 500 gigawatts of non-fossil capacity by 2030, and, according to analysts, stands out as one of the larger deals in the sector's recent history.

KPI Green Energy develops, builds, and manages renewable power facilities, specialising in solar, wind and hybrid power solutions.

The company is raising the funds via a 20-year loan at an interest rate of 8.45% from the State Bank of India, which will be disbursed in a staggered manner over the next 1.5 years, Chief Financial Officer Salim Yahoo told Reuters.

"By 2027, we will finish all our projects in hand in IPP", said Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Faruk G. Patel, referring to its Independent Power Producer business, "which will generate about 10 billion rupees in revenue."

The company also issued its first green bond on Tuesday, planning to raise 6.7 billion rupees at a coupon of 8.5% per annum.

The rupee-denominated five-year bond was externally credit-enhanced - its rating was given a boost by a 65% guarantee from GuarantCo, a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company.

"Without the guarantee, we would have had to pay a 14-15% coupon to raise funds via equity or quasi-equity instruments," Patel said.

The guarantee effectively raised the instrument's credit rating from A+ to AA+ rating by CRISIL and ICRA, Yahoo said.

Aseem Infrastructure Finance subscribed to a majority of the bonds, while Jio Finance and SBI Capital Markets took the rest, Yahoo added.

SBI Capital Markets was the sole arranger for the issue, the executives said.

($1 = 88.0587 Indian rupees)