NLC India surges 12% as company signs pact with Rajasthan govt for ₹7,000-crore projects

Shares of state-run NLC India Ltd rallied 12% in the opening trade on Monday after the company announced that it has signed a pact with the Rajasthan government to jointly set up two power plants with an investment of ₹7,000 crore.

On Monday, the NLC India stock climbed as much as 12.1% soon after opening the session to hit an intra-day high of ₹244.60 on BSE. By 9:35 am, the stock pared some of its gains to trade 8% higher at ₹235.60.

Heavy trading volumes were also witnessed in the stock counter, with the number of shares exchanging hands on BSE jumping by almost 2 times the daily average within the first hour of trading itself.

In a press release issued on Sunday, NLC India said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan government for the formation of a joint venture to set up a 125-megawatt (MW) lignite-based power plant in Bikaner and a 1000-MW solar power plant.

The MoU between NLC India and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (RVUNL) entailed an investment of more than ₹7,000 crore.

A letter of intent (LoI) has already been issued for the setup of an 810 MW solar power plant. NLC India said that this was in line with its corporate plan to become a power major with 17 GW capacity, with more than 6 GW renewable capacity by 2030.

NLC India is a Navratna public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Coal. Last week, it was in news after the government of India announced that it would be offloading 5% stake in the state-run company, with an option to additionally sell another 2% shares, through the offer-for-sale (OFS) route to raise up to ₹2,100 crore.