State-owned REC Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Vivek Kumar Dewangan on Wednesday stressed on the commitment to increase its loan book of green projects by ten times to more than Rs 3 lakh crore by 2030.
Dewangan chaired the annual general meeting on Wednesday, which was attended by all directors on the board of the company. Many shareholders were present at the meeting through video conferencing.
At AGM he said, “REC is committed to increase its present loan portfolio of Green Projects to the extent of more than ten times by the year 2030 amounting to Rs 3 lakh crore.”
The REC has been known for its rural electrification efforts; now it would be known for its Renewable Energy (RE) focused initiatives including solar, wind, hybrid and e-mobility projects, as well as new areas like green hydrogen, green amonia projects, round the clock projects involving bundling of RE with thermal power and ethanol manufacturing, he pointed out.
He also said that while reposing faith in REC, the power ministry has also allowed the company to lend to non-power infrastructure and logistics sectors to contribute to the accelerated development of the nation.
“I ecstatically report that during the first year itself, we have sanctioned more than Rs 85,700 crore towards various projects spanning metro, ports, airports, oil refineries, highways, steel infra to healthcare, educational institutions and also in sectors of IT infra/fiber optics, etc. that constitute about 32 per cent of overall sanctions of the company, in the last financial year,” Dewangan said.
Regarding bond issue and dividend, Dewangan said, “In August 2022, the company issued bonus shares to shareholders in a 1:3 ratio, issuing 65,83,06,000 new fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 10 each. This increased the issued and paid-up share capital to Rs 2,633.22 crore, comprising 2,63,32,24,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each.”
In terms of dividends, the REC is among the highest dividend-paying companies in its category, he noted.
During FY23, the board proposed a final dividend of Rs 4.35 per share for the approval of shareholders in this AGM and the same has been approved by the shareholders.
This is in addition to the 1st interim dividend of Rs 5 per share and 2nd interim dividend of Rs 3.25 per share, which has already been paid.
The total dividend for FY23, including the proposed final dividend, is Rs 12.60 per share.
The total dividend pay-out for FY23, including the proposed final dividend, is Rs 3,318 crore, he added.
