Adani Group and Vedanta are competing to acquire Lanco’s Amarkantak power plant located in the mine-rich Korba area of Chhattisgarh after it was admitted for insolvency proceedings by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last year, according to people aware of the matter.
Both parties are conducting due diligence on the power plant, which has 600 MW of operational thermal power capacity, 1,320 MW of under-construction capacity, and another 1,320 MW at the planning stage, after expression for interest was invited in December; neither has made a financial offer yet, according to the people. Sources also said at least one more party, a Singapore-based player, could join the bidding process.
The Adani Group did not respond to ET’s query on this matter. Vedanta Group, which is believed to have expressed interest through its transmission arm Sterlite Power Transmission, said, “As a company policy, we do not comment on market opportunities, which we evaluate in the normal course of business”.
The plant is housed in a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which took rs 12,000 crore of debt from banks but was unable to service it due to the financial troubles of the parent company, Lanco Group. The Lanco Group has been struggling with mounting losses and muted cash flows and tried to sell assets to repay debt but could not succeed.
The SPV, Lanco Amarkantak Power, was dragged to the NCLT over a Rs 800-crore loan default by Axis Bank. Lanco initially resisted the insolvency proceedings on the grounds that they were filed under a now defunct RBI circular of February 12, 2018. The circular instructed banks to initiate insolvency proceedings against companies within 30 days of them defaulting on a loan. It was quashed by the Supreme Court as it was thought to be harsh on borrowers.
The NCLT ruled against Lanco and ordered the commencement of the insolvency process and appointment of KPMG’s Saurabh Tikmani as the resolution professional of the company on September 5.
Lanco Amarkantak Power, which was incorporated in February 2001, has coal-fired thermal power units located near Pathadi village on Korba-Champa State Highway in Chhattisgarh on 1,337 acres of land. The project has two units of 300 MW each, which are operational and currently supply electricity to Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Chhattisgarh. In the second phase of development, it has two units of 660 MW each, which are currently under construction and have been delayed from their targeted commissioning in 2016-17.
The third phase plans to add two more units of 660 MW, work on which has not yet started.
Lanco has been looking for buyers for the Amarkantak projects since early 2010s but the issues faced by the company and problems in the beleaguered power sector kept investors away. The project had troubles with regulators in getting approval for an increase in tariff and the Supreme Court cancelled Lanco’s rights to mine the Gare Pelma II coal mine in Chhattisgarh in 2014.
In a note earlier this month, PwC India said, “Sovereign wealth funds with presence already in India’s renewables, hydro, transmission and distribution sectors will see the 100% tax exemption on interest, dividend and capital gains as a huge positive. This, in addition to the corporate tax cut for power generators, should attract new investments, encourage early closure of inefficient plants and reduce marginal cost of generation”.
Source: Economic Times