New Delhi: The state-owned non-banking financial companies -- Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and REC Limited – have further reduced their lending rates across all types of loans by 40 basis points.

Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh has expressed satisfaction over the continued efforts by both companies to reduce rates and remain competitive. Singh said that continued reduction of lending rates by REC and PFC will help power utilities to borrow at competitive rates and invest in improving the power sector infrastructure, thereby benefiting the consumer by way of reliable and cheap power.

In the last about one year, both the organizations have reduced lending rates cumulatively by up to three per cent. In order to give a boost to renewable energy, where long term funding is required, the rates have been revised to as low as 8.25 per cent.

The reduction in rates has been possible due to lower cost of borrowings by these organizations, in the past year or so. It is pertinent that PFC and REC are already providing short term loans at interest rates as low as 6.25 per cent, said the Union Power Ministry in a statement. /BI/