NTDC gets Rs6.4b loan for laying transmission lines

Financing facility will be utilised for construction of a 220/132-kilovolt sub-station and allied transmission lines

LAHORE: In a bid to add 956 megawatts of wind energy to the system, the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) has secured a loan of Rs6.4 billion from a consortium of banks comprising Habib Bank Limited, National Bank of Pakistan and BankIslami Pakistan.

The financing facility will be utilised for the construction of a 220/132-kilovolt sub-station and allied transmission lines to transmit clean renewable energy from 19 wind power plants located at the Jhimpir wind corridor.

Speaking on the occasion, an NTDC spokesman said the company had for the first time explored the option of raising a loan without government guarantees.

In the past, he said, NTDC had relied on government-guaranteed loans from the local market. “This loan signing will be a precursor to more funding for the upcoming transmission line projects.”

The spokesman pointed out that the cost of Jhimpir-II project was calculated at Rs10.75 billion while financing of Rs6.4 billion was required.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2020.

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