L&T Infrastructure Finance to lend Rs518 crore to AG&P India
MUMBAI : L&T Infrastructure Finance has signed an agreement to provide ₹518 crore as term loan to Singapore-based AG&P Group’s Indian subsidiary for developing city gas distribution (CGD) networks in Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaisalmer in Rajashtan and Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, the company said today.
Petroleum Natural Gas and Regulatory Board (PNGRB) had under the ninth and tenth bidding rounds for CGD licenses awarded 12 geographical areas to AG&P CGD India.
“AG&P CGD holds the exclusive licenses to build CGD networks to sell natural gas in these two Geographic Areas (GAs) in addition to ten other GAs across India. These networks are being developed to connect millions of people to compressed natural gas (CNG) for their vehicles and piped natural gas (PNG) for their homes and businesses.
The 12 areas cover 28 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. The company intends to build over 1,500 compressed natural gas stations, supported by 1,800 kilometers of steel pipelines.
“In these areas, this will be the first time these people have access to natural gas,” said Abhilesh Gupta, chief financial officer and commercial head, AG&P Group, in a statement.
Deloitte India Corporate Finance and Restructuring Services was the financial adviser to the deal.
Raju Dodti, Chief Executive – Infrastructure Finance said, “This is our first financing transaction in the CGD sector. We expect these projects to aid the development of communities and businesses in these districts, triggered by the resultant reduction in energy costs, employment generation and overall positive impact of cleaner energy on the environment.”
