SBI Signs $152-Million Export Line of Credit With Japanese Bank

Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, on Monday signed a loan agreement with the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) to set up an export credit line in two currencies worth $152 million (Rs 912 crore at 1 dollar = 60 rupees).

Total amount in the export credit line consists of 13.5 billion yen and $21 million, a release said, adding that the loan is co-financed with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTMU).

This credit line will be utilised by Meja Urja Nigam to finance procurement of steam turbine generators from Japan's Toshiba Corp and its Indian subsidiary to construct a super critical pressure coal-fired power plant (660 mwx2 units) in Meja, Uttar Pradesh, the release said.

The plant is an equal joint venture between NTPC, a Central PSU, and UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam.

The agreement was signed by SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and JBIC governor Hiroshi Watanabe in Tokyo, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a state visit.

 "India has a strong appetite for infrastructural development and I see a greater role for JBIC in supporting Indian commercial banks and infrastructure companies," Ms Bhattacharya said.

This is the third such occasion that SBI has participated with JBIC in a project funding, the release noted.