JSW Energy and Adani Power have submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) for bankrupt Monnet Power, two people aware of the development told Mint. Monnet Power is the second of Sandeep Jajodia’s companies to undergo insolvency proceedings. Monnet Power Co. Ltd was incorporated in 2007 for setting up a thermal power plant of 1,050 megawatts (MW), backed by a pit head captive coal mine in Angul, Odisha. The company, however, ran into trouble when the Supreme Court in 2014 cancelled a host of coal mine allocations. Monnet Power owes Rs 5,892 crore to banks and another Rs 359 crore to operational creditors.
State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, UCO Bank, ICICI Bank and IDBI Bank are among the prominent lenders to Monnet Power, which is an 88% subsidiary of the listed Monnet Industries.
The company was admitted into insolvency in February. The last date for submission of EOIs was 6 June. The National Company Law Tribunal had appointed Navneet Kumar Gupta as the resolution professional in this case.
Emails sent to JSW Energy and Adani Power went unanswered at the time of going to press. This is the second time that JSW Energy has expressed interest in Monnet Power. In 2016, lenders to Monnet Power had rejected an offer from Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Energy as they were unwilling to take a haircut on their loans.
This is also the second Monnet group company that JSW is interested in. In April, lenders to Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd approved a resolution plan submitted by a consortium of JSW Steel and AION Investments Pvt Ltd. The consortium offered to pay Rs 3,750 crore to buy out the company. JSW Energy has also submitted an EOI for Bhushan Energy.
Adani Wilmar, a joint venture under the Adani group, is also in an ongoing bidding war for bankrupt edible oil firm Ruchi Soya.
Source: Mint