Adani, NTPC in fray to acquire Avantha’s stressed power plant

NEW DELHI: Adani Power and NTPC Ltd are in the race to acquire a 1,260 megawatt thermal power plant of Gautam Thapar’s Avantha Group, a stressed project undergoing resolution as per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).This is the first time NTPC, the country’s largest power producer, has bid for any stressed project, while Gautam Adani-led Adani Power is on a buying spree, having recently acquired GMR Infrastructure’s 1,370 mw coalbased power plant in Chhattisgarh for a debt component of Rs 3,530 crore and equity outgo of Rs 1.The Jhabua power project received two bids till the deadline on Monday, sources said. “Bids will now be opened and evaluated,” one person close to the development said. Adani Power and NTPC did not respond to separate queries sent by ET. NTPC has said earlier that it would not buy any project outside the IBC process.Banks and financial institutions are trying to close resolution proceedings for at least five stressed power plants, including Essar Power Mahan, RKM Power-Gen and Suzlon Energy, before the deadline in the first week of January, under RBI’s Prudential Framework for resolution of stressed assets that was released on June 7, 2019.Lenders can close deals outside the IBC process by March, but will have to make higher provisioning as per RBI regulations. For some projects, like RattanIndia Nashik, deadline as per the RBI framework is July 2020.Jhabua Power Ltd, a special purpose vehicle promoted by the Avantha Group to set up the coalbased thermal power project at Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh, faced land acquisition and funding issues leading to time and cost overruns. Lack of power purchase agreements also added to its woes, industry sources said.73053136 In August 2018, a lesser-known Noida-based firm Worlds Window, backed by Exim Industries, emerged as the highest bidder for the Jhabua plant as lenders attempted to resolve the project outside the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).However, the company could not arrange the requisite funding and the project got entangled in a legal battle over forfeiture of bank guarantees.Currently, Jhabua Power has 600 mw operational power generation capacity, while 660 mw is under implementation. It has debt claims of more than Rs 5,000 crore.On Monday, lenders of RattanIndia Power Ltd, led by Power Finance Corp and State Bank of India, closed debt resolution of its 1,350-mw coal-based project at Amravati in Maharashtra for Rs 4,050 crore in a deal outside insolvency court, with existing promoters backed by foreign funds Goldman Sachs and Varde Partners.Earlier, Resurgent Power acquired 75% stake in Jaiprakash Associates – owned Prayagraj Power Generation Co’s 1,980-mw Bara power plant for Rs 6,000 crore, while Hong Kong-based Agritrade Resources bought SKS Power’s Binjkote plant for Rs 2,170 crore.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/36eEi2h