IEEFA India Podcast: Government-owned funders are leading backers of non-performing assets in the power sector

Over the years, the government-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and the Rural Electric Corporation (REC) have been lending extensively to coal-fired power projects. In fact, over half of their total loan book is exposed to thermal power.

Yet thermal power in India has become a less secure investment, as the two corporations have found.

And now they are carrying an extensive burden of non-performing assets on their balance sheets, amounting to roughly US$6.8 billion dollars as of December 2019.

In a new IEEFA podcast, Kashish Shah, research analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), talks about why the corporations need to stop funding thermal power.

Read the report: Is India’s PFC financing a herd of white elephants?

Listen to the podcast: https://anchor.fm/ieefaasiapacific/episodes/INDIA-ENERGY-TALKIES-Government-owned-funders-are-leading-backers-of-non-performing-assets-in-the-power-sector-ee8ikh