Gandhinagar

Debt-laden wind turbine maker Suzlon today announced its plans to invest Rs 24,000 crore over the next 5 years on energy projects to generate 3,000 mw in Gujarat and said the company’s rupee debt will be halved at Rs 4,000 crore by the end of the current fiscal.

The company’s rupee debt stands at Rs 8,000 crore and it will be reducing it by 50 per cent by the end of this fiscal, chairman Tulsi Tanti told reporters here. The company also has equal debt in foreign currencies.

“We have large operations and a capital structure. We also have many avenues to generate funds to reduce the debt and we are working out on that,” he said, adding the debt will be zero in the next three years. The company is under corporate debt restructuring since 2012.

Tanti also announced a Rs 24,000-crore investment in Gujarat over the next five years to set up a 3,000-mw wind and solar energy capacity which will be owned by small businesses in dedicated clusters for reducing their energy outgo.

The company will be setting up 2,000 mw of on-land wind capacity, 500-mw of offshore wind capacity and 500 mw of solar capacity, he said, adding that offshore capacity will be 5-10 km off the Kutch coast.

Asked about speculation around listing of its German subsidiary Senvion (formerly Re-Power) and if funds will be generated from this avenue to retire debt, Tanti refused to comment, pointing out that the company is publicly listed and has to inform the bourses first.

The company’s foreign currency debt too stands at Rs 8,000 crore at present, he said, adding a bulk of this is the USD 500-million foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) whose repayment was also rescheduled following a default some years back.

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