Anil Ambani tells shareholders Rs 7,100-cr claim on DMRC to help prune debt

At AGM, RInfra chief says Supreme Court upheld arbitral award favouring Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd, an RInfra arm that once ran Delhi Airport Metro Line

Reliance Infrastructure on Tuesday said the Rs 7,100 crore that the company would receive from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as part of the settlement of an arbitral case would be used for deleveraging its balance sheet.

Anil Ambani, chairman, Reliance Infrastructure, in the AGM today said, “Reliance Infrastructure has won against Delhi Metro Rail Corporation as the Supreme Court upheld an arbitral award in favour of Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL) – a Reliance Infra arm that used to operate Delhi Airport Metro Line.

As a result of SC judgment, Reliance Infra arm DAMEPL would receive a sum of Rs 7,100 crore from DMRC that would be utilized to repay the debt of Reliance Infra. RInfra's consolidated debt was Rs 14,260 crore, and its standalone debt Rs 3,808 crore as of March 2021. Recently, it raised Rs 550 crore from promoter group and VSFI Holding Pte, an affiliate of Värde Investment Partners, LLP.

Reliance Infra last year completed the full stake sale of Delhi Agra Toll Road to Cube Highways and Infrastructure III pte Ltd for Rs 3,600 crore.

The apex court also issued a notice to DMRC on the Airport Express' plea for interim to continue servicing the debt of the SPV, pending the Supreme Court's disposal of the petition. The SPV borrowed Rs 1,600 crore from 11 banks, including Axis Bank, UCO Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Andhra Bank, and Central Bank of India.

Ambani said that Reliance Infra’s new growth engines would be power distribution business as the new Electricity Act will be opening up a plethora of opportunities, new contracts in EPC Business and Defence manufacturing business.

Ambani also said Reliance Power reduced its debt by Rs 3,100 crore in 2020-21. The company further expects to reduce a debt of nearly Rs 3,200 in 2021-22 which would improve debt: equity ratio 1.80:1, which it claimed would be among the lowest in the power sector, he said during the AGM.

RPower, which operates the Sasan ultra mega power plant in Madhya Pradesh, said the plant recorded a plant load factor of 96 per cent during FY21. Ambani said the allied coal mine with the plant had an annual coal production of 18.6 million tonne, making it the largest private sector coal producer in the country.

The company has an operational portfolio of 6,000 Mw of coal-powered units. It has planned a capex of nearly Rs 3,200 crore to install Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD’s) in its coal-based plants.

The company's shareholders in June this year approved with the preferential issue of 59.50 crores Equity Shares of Rs 10 each and 73 crore warrants, convertible into equity shares of Rs 10 each amounting to Rs 1,325 crore.

With this, the shareholding of Reliance Infrastructure and other promoters in the company has gone up to 24.98 per cent and would further increase to 38.24 per cent following the conversion of warrants, Ambani said at the AGM.