The on-again, off-again securitization of receivables owed by India's state electricity boards (SEBs) to the country's state-owned power and fuel producers looks to be back on. The recently re-elected BJP-led government confirmed that it hopes to use the deal to clean up the balance sheets of the SEBs and provide funds for new investments in the power sector.
According to sources in India, the transaction will be backed by receivables with a face value of Rs120 billion ($2.8 billion), of which Rs 60 billion is owed to power producers and Rs40 billion to coal mining companies. SBI Capital Markets is amongst the financial institutions working on the deal (ASRI 7/13/1998 p.2).
Power minister P.R. Kumaramangalam, said that the discount rate at which the receivables will be sold into a securitization vehicle has yet to be decided, but the bonds will likely have a seven year maturity and a 10.5% coupon.
