RIL To Mop Up $2 Bn Via 10-Year Loan

Mumbai: Reliance Industries has decided to mobilize $2 billion via a 10-year overseas syndicated loan for funding its oil and gas exploration in the D6 block of the Krishna-Godawari basin. The company has been able to get a cheaper rate of Libor (London inter-bank offered rate) plus mid-60s basis points for the syndicated loan. The D6 was among the blocks awarded to a consortium of Reliance Industries (90 per cent) and NIKO (10 per cent) under the NELP I round of bidding. Currently, the JV is developing India''s first deep water gas production facility for the Dhirubhai 1 and 3 fields, targeting the first gas in the second half of 2008. The $2 billion syndicated loan is arranged by a consortium of 14 banks including Citigroup, ABN-Amro, Standard Chartered, HSBC, ICICI Bank and DBS. The full commitment by banks for the loan is expected to be completed this week, said industry sources.