Government-owned infrastructure finance company REC Limited’s board of directors has approved an equity investment of ₹142.5 million (~$1.7 million) in Hindustan Power Exchange (HPX).

The investment constitutes 19% of the proposed equity share capital of ₹750 million (~$9 million) of HPX.

HPX has an authorized capital of ₹1 billion (~$12 million) and a current paid-up capital of ₹552.5 million (~$6.62 million). Incorporated in 2018, the power trading platform reported a total revenue of ₹174.35 million (~$2.09 million) in the fiscal 2022-23.

The equity investment in HPX is expected to be completed within six months.

In another decision, REC has revised its market borrowing program for the financial year (FY) 2023-24. The approved expansion involves an increase in the borrowing limit to ₹1.5 trillion (~$17.9 billion) from ₹1.2 trillion (~$14.4 billion).

The revised program allows REC flexibility in utilizing various debt instruments, including bonds, debentures, term loans, external commercial borrowings, and commercial papers, on both private and public placement bases.

For the first time, REC crossed a disbursement of ₹1 trillion (~$12 billion) in a year. In the corresponding period of eight months of FY 2023, the disbursement was ₹460.75 billion (~$5.52 billion), the company said in a recent stock filing.

REC is an infrastructure finance company offering long-term loans and various financial products for the power infrastructure sector, including generation, transmission, distribution, renewable energy, and emerging technologies such as electric vehicles, battery storage, green hydrogen, and more.

REC posted a net profit of ₹37.73 billion (~$453.2 million) in the second quarter of FY 2024, an increase of 38% year-over-year from ₹27.28 billion (~$327.7 million).

Earlier, REC raised $1.25 billion in August and September 2023 from a consortium of six banks through a Foreign Currency Term Loan Agreement. The company raised $1.15 billion in two tranches from a consortium of six banks.

In May this year, REC listed its recently issued green bonds, which raised $750 million under its global medium-term $7 billion program at the GIFT IFSC Stock Exchanges in Gandhinagar.