TEMASEK Holdings is seeking stakes in Indian power producers
including GMR Group as they double capacity to meet demand in the
world's second-fastest growing major economy, reported Bloomberg
news.
'We are in advanced discussions with GMR,' Wong Kim Yin,
managing director for energy investments at Temasek, told reporters
at a power conference in Singapore on Tuesday. 'We are trying to
get exposure to the domestic India markets.'
Temasek, manager of about S$172 billion of assets, is betting
utilities will ramp up generation in the next seven years to
overcome power shortages that India's government says are
constraining economic growth. The 17-member Bombay Stock Exchange
Power Index has climbed 62 per cent in a year, lagging behind the
70 per cent gain in the main Sensitive Index, according to
Bloomberg.
GMR Infrastructure fell 0.2 per cent to 63 rupees at 1.22pm in
Mumbai trading compared with a 0.1 per cent gain in the Sensitive
Index. The stock has climbed 24 per cent in a year.
A. Subba Rao, chief financial officer of GMR Group, denied on
Dec 15 an Economic Times report that the group was in talks with
Temasek and ICICI Bank Ltd to raise funds to build power plants. He
couldn't be immediately reached at his office on Tuesday for
comment, said Bloomberg.
'Typically we look more at investing in power companies than in
power projects,' Mr Wong said, in reply to a question on whether
Temasek was investing in new generators in India. Temasek, which
has invested in resources companies and financial institutions
including ICICI, India's second-biggest lender, is in talks with 'a
number of players,' added Mr Wong.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said last month that
inadequate supply of coal, gas and power is 'worrying' as it
constrains economic growth. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called
for a partnership between the government and companies to increase
power generation.
'In places like India and China, sources of funding remain
domestic,' Temasek's Mr Wong said at the conference. 'It is unclear
if funding will continue without government stimulus.'
Equity markets offer sources of funding and Singapore is
relatively untapped by the power industry, he said.