NTPC Limited announced it plans to get its shareholders’ approval to authorize the company’s board of directors to raise about ₹150 billion (~$2.05 billion) through the issue of bonds during its next annual general meeting.

The funds will be raised through private placement in one or more tranches as required, not exceeding 30 tranches, the company said. The board intends to bring in these funds by inviting subscriptions for secured or unsecured, redeemable, taxable or tax-free, cumulative or non-cumulative, non-convertible debentures (bonds).

These funds will be used to meet its capital expenditure, working capital, general corporate purpose requirements for one year from the date this special resolution is passed or until its next annual general meeting, whichever comes first.

It explained that since the company is rapidly expanding its capacity, a majority of its capital expenditure requirements have to be funded by debt. It also said that it needs to borrow funds to meet its working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes. These are partly proposed to be met through the issue of non-convertible bonds, it added.

The state-owned thermal-power generators’ next annual general meeting will be held on September 24, 2020, as per its statement.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, NTPC has 875 MW of large-scale solar projects in operation, with about 2.3 GW of capacity currently under development.

NTPC last week said it received the approval of NITI Aayog and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management to set up a wholly-owned company for its renewable energy business. The disclosure to start a renewable subsidiary is crucial; even though the state-owned power company is generating 1.1 GW of renewable energy, NTPC has plans to push installations to 32 GW by 2032, which will constitute 24% of its power projects portfolio.

NTPC was recently in the news after it announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary NTPC Vidhyut Vihar Nigam Limited, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Greenko Energies Private Limited to explore opportunities to supply round-the-clock renewable energy. The partnership would meet the evolving requirements of DISCOMs and other power consumers in India in real-time.