Petronet to Raise Rs 1,000 Crore Through Bonds Issue

Petronet LNG Ltd, India's biggest liquefied natural gas importer, will raise Rs 1,000 crore through bonds issue this fiscal mostly to pay off its existing debt.

"The funds will be used to refinance the existing debt and/or to meet the capex requirement of the company," Petronet said in a notice to shareholders ahead of its annual general meeting (AGM) on September 24.

The money raised through the bonds issue will be repayable in a maximum of 10 years.

Petronet had total borrowings of Rs 2,373.81 crore as on March 31, 2015.

In 2014-15 fiscal, it had refinanced a part of its rupee term loans by substituting it with low-cost rupee bonds in the Indian markets for an amount of Rs 1,000 crore. Also, the company has proposed to raise cap on foreign portfolio investors or FII shareholding in the company from 24 per cent to 30 per cent of paid up capital.

Current, equity share capital of the company is Rs 750 crore out of which 50 per cent is being held by four promoters -- state-owned GAIL, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and ONGC. Another 10 per cent is held by GdF of France while the remaining 40 per cent is with public including FIIs.

The company plans to complete expansion of its Dahej LNG import facility in Gujarat to 15 million tonnes per annum from current 10 million tonnes by end of 2016.

It is further looking at expansion of Dahej terminal to 17.5 million tonnes and "is in process of finalising business model for the same," Petronet said in its annual report adding detailed feasibility report has been prepared.