Reliance Energy eyes road, rail deals

By Koh Gui Qing and Kevin Lim

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Reliance Energy Ltd said on Monday it will focus on infrastructure projects in its home market, where it sees the biggest opportunities as the country develops roads and rails and builds airports.

The company, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, expects Indian borrowing costs to fall in coming months as the central bank cuts interest rates, Reliance Energy director Lalit Jalan told Reuters in an interview.

"We feel strongly that Indian interest rates will come down as they haven't been changed for quite some time," he said.

The Reserve Bank of India has kept its main lending rate unchanged at 7.75 percent for almost a year -- after raising it five times between June 2006 and March 2007 -- as inflation has remained stubbornly high above 5 percent.

Reliance Energy will borrow most funds from Indian bank as it pursues $500 billion in infrastructure projects that have been earmarked under India's five-year development plan, he said.

"It's a $500 billion opportunity... India is going through this huge infrastructure cycle. We are very short of power plants, we are very short of airports, railway stations, metros, bridges... India needs it all."

"There are no assets that we are bidding for overseas."

Jalan's remarks came shortly after Reliance Energy lost out in the bidding for Tuas Power, a Singapore electricity generator that was sold to China's Huaneng Group last week.