Adani Power set to acquire GMR power unit for Rs5,200 cr
30 Aug 2018
Billionaire Gautam Adani’s energy arm Adani Power is nearing a deal to acquire the 1,370-megawatt GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd, and a deal is likely to be announced in the next few weeks, after lenders give a formal approval, reports quoting sources close to the development said.
The thermal power plant backed by GMR Infrastructure Ltd owes lenders and suppliers a total of Rs5,800 crore, according to reports citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Adani Power will assume about Rs3,800 crore ($543 million) of loans out of the total Rs5,800 crore as also non-funded liabilities of about Rs1,400 crore, the sources were quoted as saying.
Lenders took control of GMR Chhattisgarh following a debt restructuring plan last year that converted about Rs3,000 crore of debt into about 52 per cent equity in the company.
Pushed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), lenders have been looking to restructure stressed loans that have already made dozens of companies bankrupt. The RBI is attempting to clean up more than Rs14,85,000 crore of stressed loans on banks’ balance sheets and has previously asked lenders to take about 40 large defaulters to bankruptcy court to stem the rot.
GMR Chhattisgarh comprises two 685-megawatt coal-power units that started operations in 2015 and 2016, according to GMR’s website.
Adani Power, Vedanta Ltd, JSW Energy Ltd and state-run NLC India Ltd were among firms that submitted non-binding bids for the project, lender Power Finance Corp said in a 31 May statement.