India, China sign 49 MoUs to boost economic ties

Anil Ambani's Reliance Power said today that Bank of China ( BOC), China Development Bank ( CDB) and the Export Import Bank of China (CEXIM ) along with Standard Chartered Bank had committed term loans amounting to  Rs5,000 crore to its 3,960 MW Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project.

This is the largest funding extended by Chinese banks to an Indian project in any sector.

The financing would support power equipment import for the project from Shanghai Electric of China. The project would be financed on a non-recourse basis with loans maturing over 13 years.

In October, major Chinese banks (Bank of China, China Development Bank, the Export Import Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) had reiterated support to a number of group projects and had signed MoUs with R-Power.

An MoU for a $4.63-billion project financing with Reliance Power as also a $400-million facility agreement with ICICI Bank were among the 49 MoUs signed yesterday during the visit of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. The list of MoUs served to underline the extent of China's involvement as India's premier trading partner, a theme that is dominating the visit of Wen.

Among the agreements signed is one for a $1.2-billion facility between Bank of China and IDBI Bank and between China Development Bank and Reliance Power for $1.1 billion on Sasan power.