Hyderabad: Power deficient Telangana got a boost on Sunday when it entered into an MoU with the Power Finance Corporation for a Rs 15,000-crore soft loan to fund two major power projects in Khammam and Nalgonda districts. PFC chairman M.K. Goel signed the crucial Memorandum of Understanding with Telangana Genco chairman-cum-managing director, Devulapally Prabhakara Rao, on Sunday in the presence of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. As per the MoU, PFC will finance T-Genco Rs 15,000 crore as a loan repayable in 15 years with the first three years declared as moratorium on repayment.

On the request of the CM, the PFC chairman also agreed to reduce the interest rate from 12 per cent to 11.5 per cent, which will save T-Genco around Rs 300 crore. According to the MoU, the loan amount will be spent on an 1080-MW capacity new thermal station at Manuguru in Khammam, and a 4400-MW thermal station at Damaracherla in Nalgonda.

Mr Devulapally Prabhakara Rao told DC on Sunday that they intended to make both thermal stations operational within three years, which would come as a big relief for Telangana which is currently having a tough time meeting power demands. He also said that works on the Manuguru Thermal Station had already started while for the Damaracherla Station, they were awaiting the Union Environmental Ministry’s clearance for the forest lands where the station is going to come up and approval for the alternative afforestation plan submitted by the Telangana government in lieu of the forest lands. He said that a T-Genco team of officials had been invited to Delhi to discuss with the ministry to get the necessary approvals.