BWSSB first water utility to go in for credit rating The Hindu : Front Page

The Hindu : Front Page : BWSSB first water utility to go in for credit rating: "

As a measure to assess its financial strength, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has become the first water utility in the country to go in for credit rating. The Board has appointed ICRA Ltd., one of India's leading credit-rating agencies, to evaluate its financial strength in leveraging the market to raise funds. The rating will analyse the BWSSB's debt-leveraging ratio, or its borrowing capacity.Disclosing this to The Hindu, BWSSB chairperson G. Latha Krishna Rao said that this was an effort to 'find out where and how the service oriented, no loss, no profit organisation truly stands vis-À-vis other establishment s'. The rating, which should be out by November, will, according to Ms. Rao, not only allow the BWSSB to see where its finances stand, but also enable it to secure funding from the public, and financial institutions and plan its projects.'We might feel we are good, the best… but if it comes from an independent credit-rating agency, it will have that much more weight.' Ms. Rao, who has a financial background, said that the rating exercise 'will help the BWSSB to clean up its books'. It will also allow the BWSSB to 'take mid-course corrective steps if necessary'. (snip)

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