PTC India plans energy fund(5)

PTC India, a publicly traded, government-backed power trading company, intends to form a third party private equity fund to invest in power projects.

Earlier this week, PTC India raised INR5 billion ($105 million; €75 million) when it issued approximately 66.7 million shares at INR75 per share. The capital raised would be used to anchor the fund, according to a company statement. 

The fund would invest in “needy” projects thereby speeding up their financial closure. This would lead to projects being developed faster and in turn, provide the company with larger trading volumes.

“We get return on equity anyway from the equity investment, but we also get those volumes for trade, which means we will get some more income through margins,” Tantra Narayan Thakur, chairman and managing director, told Reuters.

The fund would buy up to 30 percent equity stakes in private power projects, which will sell power through the company’s power trading facilities. Presently, PTC India is considering “about a dozen” such project proposals, Thakur told the newswire. 

Thakur added the company has earmarked $100 million for coal assets in countries including Australia and Indonesia since 2008. 

Based in New Delhi, PTC India is a government-backed public private partnership. Its services include providing long- and short-term power sale solutions as well as providing equity support to energy projects. It was formerly known as the Power Trading Corporation of India.

PTC India’s shares were trading at INR91 per share at press time, up from its previous closing price of INR88.25 per share.