Petronet lNG ltd, India's biggest liquefied natural gas importer, has won shareholders' approval to raise Rs1,000 crore through bonds this fiscal to pay off its existing costly debt. Petronet shareholders at its annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday approved the proposal to raise Rs1,000 crore through issuance of secured/unsecured non convertible debentures through private placement in one or more tranches during the financial year ending March 31. In a stock exchange filing, Petronet said 99.99 per cent shareholders ‘voted in favour of the resolution’.
At the AGM on Thursday, Director (Finance) RK Garg said the company is taking an enabling approval of the shareholders to raise the funds that will be used to refinance the existing debt and/or to meet the capex requirement of the company. The money raised through the bonds issue will be repayable in a maximum of 10 years. Petronet had total borrowings of Rs2,373.81 crore as of 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 Rs1,000 crore.