Adani Power receives creditors' approval for Lanco Amarkantak Power buy

Adani Power has received the creditors’ approval for the resolution plan to acquire insolvent Lanco Amarkantak Power, according to a company filing on Tuesday.

The thermal power producer is planning to aggressively expand its capacity, and this is the company’s second acquisition under the insolvency resolution process in the financial year. 

“The Committee of Creditors of Lanco Amarkantak Power has approved the resolution plan submitted by Adani Power,” it said.

The company has received a Letter of Intent from the resolution professional for the Lanco unit acquisition.

The asset was first admitted for the resolution process in 2019, the company said.

Adani Power has not disclosed its bid value.

Lanco Amarkantak Power operates two units of 300 megawatt (Mw) of thermal power each in Korba district of Chhattisgarh.

The asset has a 600 Mw capacity tied up under long-term power purchase agreements with the state distribution companies of Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

This is Adani Power’s second acquisition in the current financial year through the insolvency route. 

In December last year, the company said that a consortium of Adani Power has received a LOI from the resolution professional of Coastal Energen for a bid of Rs 3,450 crore.

The asset operates two units of 600 Mw of power capacity each in Tamil Nadu.

The company has earlier shared plans to increase its capacity to 21,150 Mw from the current 15,250 Mw.

It plans to do so with a mix of organic and inorganic expansion options.

In a recent call with analysts, senior executives from the company noted, “it includes 1.1 gigawatt of acquisitions also which we thought probably could be in the offing.”

India’s rising power demand, particularly peak power demand, has once again brought coal-fired power assets back in favour of the sector.

Assets such as coal-fired units play a crucial role in ensuring peak power supplies.

As of December 2023, Adani Power had a total gross debt of Rs 31,162 crore, lower than Rs 42,353 crore at the end of the last financial year.

Top executives noted they will look at opportunities to repay loans as and when the opportunity arises.

“Although there is no written policy, as and when surplus cash flow is there, we will look to reduce the high-cost borrowing,” they told analysts in a recent call.

The company added that Mahan Energen, an asset also acquired through the NCLT process earlier, is debt-free at the Phase-I capacity level.

JSW Energy arm signs battery energy storage purchase agreement

JSW Renew Energy Five, a step down subsidiary of JSW Energy, on Tuesday said it has signed a battery energy storage purchase agreement for the first project of 250 megawatt (Mw) / 500 Mwh Standalone Battery Energy Storage System out of the total awarded project capacity of 500 Mw / 1,000 Mwh (two projects each of 250 Mw / 500 Mwh) with Solar Energy Corporation of India. The firm said the agreement has been signed at a fixed capacity charge of Rs 10,84,000 per Mw per month for twelve years for 60 per cent of the total capacity amounting to 150MW / 300 MWh.