Lanco ties up funds for Vidarbha power project; plans solar plants in Rajasthan

Lanco Infratech Ltd today announced financial closure of its 1,320 MW thermal power project, being developed by its unit Lanco Vidarbha Thermal Power Ltd, in Maharashtra, with the company securing a debt of Rs5,549 crore from a consortium of banks.

The project, estimated to cost Rs6,936 crore, would be financed through Rs5,549 crore of debt and an equity of Rs1,387 crore, the company said in a statement.

In a separate development, the company said it has got letters of intent to develop a 5-MW solar PV project and a 100-MW solar thermal project in Rajasthan under the first phase of the National Solar Mission (NSM).

The company said it has plans to develop 200-300 MW of solar power in the next two years.

"The recent wins under NSM, especially the 100 MW in solar thermal, goes well with our strategy to develop 200-300 MW over the next two years across the nation and emerge as a leading developer in the country and globally," its subsidiary, Lanco Solar's CEO Sai Baba said in the statement.

The letters of intent have been awarded to Lanco by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd. (NVVN), an NTPC unit, which is the government's designated agency for solar power procurement under the National Solar Mission, which aims to set up a solar generation capacity of about 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022.

Lanco is also into providing turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to other solar power developers and has plans to set up 300-500 MW of solar thermal and solar PV plants over the next 2-3 years, according to the statement.

Additionally, the company commissioned its first 5 MW project in Gujarat. It is developing an overall capacity of 35 MW in the state.