New Delhi, Nov 9 (PTI) State-owned REC on Thursday said it has inked a pact with RailTel to finance up to Rs 30,000 crore for infrastructure projects in telecom, IT and railway signalling.

'REC Limited signed an MoU with RailTel on 9th November 2023 to extend financial assistance up to Rs 30,000 crore for infrastructure projects to be executed by RailTel in next 5 years,' an REC statement said.

According to the statement, these projects encompass a wide range of areas, including data centre products and services, telecom & IT products and services, railways & metro projects, and the KAVACH train collision prevention system.

Additionally, the agreement extends to the possibility of financing overseas ventures related to high-speed rail, metro, IT network, and the upgradation of railway network, as part of bilateral country discussions and infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia and Eastern Africa where RailTel is currently focusing.

T S C Bosh, Executive Director (Infra & Logistics), REC, and Jasmeet Singh Marwah, Company Secretary, RailTel, signed the memorandum of understating (MoU).

Post the MoU signing, they also discussed opportunities for collaboration in detail and agreed upon exploring new areas viz, renewable energy, smart metering and other projects where RailTel and REC (through its wholly owned subsidiary RECPDCL) can join hands.

REC Limited, a Maharatna central public sector enterprise established in 1969, under the Ministry of Power, provides long-term loans and other finance products for power infrastructure sector including generation, transmission, distribution, renewable energy and new technologies like electric vehicles, battery storage, green hydrogen etc.

Recently, REC has also diversified into the non-power infrastructure sector comprising roads & expressways, metro rail, airports, IT communications, social & commercial infrastructure (educational institution, hospitals), ports and electro-mechanical (E&M) works in respect of various other sectors like steel, refinery, etc.

The loan book of REC exceeds Rs 4,74,275 crore. PTI KKS HVA