New Delhi: Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), the dedicated financing arm of the Ministry of Railways, has executed a refinancing facility of up to Rs 1,125 crore for Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited (BRBCL), a joint venture between NTPC Ltd. (74 percent) and the Ministry of Railways (26 percent).
The agreement has been signed at BRBCL’s Nabinagar office by IRFC’s Chief General Manager (BD) Sunil Goel and BRBCL CEO Deepak Ranjan Dehuri in the presence of senior officials from both organisations.
BRBCL operates the 1,000 MW Nabinagar Thermal Power Project in Bihar, which supplies 90 percent of its capacity to Indian Railways and 10 percent to the Bihar State Electricity Board under a long-term cost-plus tariff agreement regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).
The refinancing arrangement is expected to reduce BRBCL’s financing costs, strengthen its financial position, and lower the cost of electricity supplied to Indian Railways. This move is projected to benefit both BRBCL’s profitability and the Railways, which is not only an equity holder but also the largest consumer of its output.
“IRFC is committed to providing innovative and competitive financing solutions that create a win-win for all stakeholders in the railway ecosystem. This refinancing of BRBCL demonstrates IRFC’s continued support to the Indian Railways, true to the very reason for which IRFC was set up – to provide reliable financial support to the Indian Railways,” said the IRFC Chairman and Managing Director in a statement.
Established in 1986, IRFC recently earned the status of a Navratna company. Over the years, it has diversified its financing portfolio across railway-linked projects such as power generation, mining, fuel, logistics, warehousing, telecom, metro rail, and freight corridors. The company continues to maintain a strong asset quality track record with a zero-NPA portfolio.
The refinancing move underscores IRFC’s strategy of building synergies across the railway ecosystem and ensuring the financial sustainability of projects directly supporting the Railways’ operational needs.
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