APRIL 20249TOP STORIESICICI BANK PROVIDES TATA STEEL RS.2,675 CRORE IN DEBT FACILITYICICI Bank has extended a debt facility of 2,675 crore to Tata Steel for a term of three years to facilitate the repayment of its existing debt, according to sources familiar with the matter.Tata Steel has successfully raised 2,700 crore through unsecured fixed-rate bonds at an interest rate of 7.79 percent, as per documents filed with the National Securities Depository. The repayment schedule for the bonds involves a bullet payment to investors on March 27, 2027, as outlined in the documents.Both ICICI Bank and Tata Steel did not respond to requests for comment from ET.The bonds have been priced competitively, with a spread of 72 basis points over three-year government securities, particularly notable given their unsecured nature, noted a bond trader. Last week, the three-year G-sec was trading at 7.07 percent.According to a report by CareEdge Ratings in July 2023, Tata Steel has successfully refinanced approximately 60 percent of its debt obligations for FY24 and aims to complete another tranche of refinancing, covering around 40 percent of its debt obligations for the year, by the first half of FY24. The management is targeting to achieve its repayment target of $1 billion.Tata Steel ranks among the top three steel producers in India, boasting a standalone crude steel capacity of 21.6 million tonnes per annum. The company aims to expand its total capacity to 40 mtpa by FY30, with a significant portion of the expansion likely to be brownfield, given the capacity potential at its existing plant locations, as highlighted in a February report by India Ratings.India Ratings expects Tata Steel's liquidity to be bolstered by robust cash accruals and on-balance sheet liquidity of 10,800 crore in the nine months ended December 2024. The company has scheduled annual consolidated repayments of 16,000 crore in FY25.The agency forecasts a reduction in fixed cost overheads from FY26 onward, resulting in positive cash accruals for Tata Steel's UK business. ACME AND HYDROGENIOUS SIGN PACT FOR LARGE SCALE HYDROGEN SUPPLY CHAINACME Group, a renewable energy firm, announced a partnership with German firm Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies to explore the creation of large-scale hydrogen supply chain from Oman to Europe. According to a statement, Hydrogenious' LOHC technology offers hydrogen storage and transportation that is both safe and cost-effective using existing liquid fuel infrastructure. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) can be utilized to store hydrogen and transport it over vast distances.A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies and ACME Group to work together on a feasibility study aimed at investigating the cooperative development of large-scale hydrogen supply chains from supply hubs in Europe to ACME's projects in Oman utilizing the cutting-edge LOHC technology.Both sides plan to expand the relationship to assess the hydrogen value chain from the United States to Europe. Oman advantages from rich renewable energy resources such as solar and onshore wind, while the United States Inflation Reduction Act provides production incentives, resulting in competitive hydrogen production costs. ACME's green hydrogen produced in these initiatives may be stored in LOHC and transferred to Europe via tanker to provide and decarbonise industrial offtakers, energy, and transportation.We have taken conclusive decisions on our Oman project and partnering with Hydrogenious to develop efficient logistics using LOHC is the next step in delivering cost-effective value proposition for our customers," Ashwani Dudeja, Group President and Director for ACME Group, added."Our collaboration will contribute to making clean hydrogen from the MENA region and the US available to European off-takers in the mid- to long-term," Toralf Pohl, Chief Commercial Officer at Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies said in the statement.
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