Infrastructure Finance Co and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services, on 19 April 2006, entered into a collaboration to develop and finance power generation and transmission projects.

IL&FS has been at work to develop several power projects worth 6,400 MW capacity in four states, while additional projects in three more states are in the pipeline.

IIFCL, which has been promoted by the Centre to provide long-term finance to infrastructure projects directly as well as to banks and financial institutions for loans of a tenor exceeding 10 years, will be the lead fund arranger for these projects. IIFCL will invest Rs.7,000 crore representing 20 per cent of the total cost of IL&FS projects, by way of both equity and debt.

Major projects involving IL&FS are ONGC's 1,100 MW gas-based power project in Tripura (Rs.3,500 crore), 630 km transmission linkage for this project from Tripura to Bongaigaon (Rs.2,000 crore), the 1,500 MW Teesta-III hydro power project in Sikkim (Rs.5,500 crore), a 2,000 MW gas-based power project in Andhra Pradesh (Rs.6,000 crore) and the 1,600 MW Krishnapatnam imported coal project (Rs.5,500 crore).

IL&FS would complete project development activities before the private sector entities are selected for project implementation, it is learnt.

Background note on IIFCL