Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL) is leading the race to acquire Lanco Amarkantak Power (Lanco), a coal-based power project, with an offer of Rs 1,960 crore cash upfront. If the offer is accepted by lenders, this will be the third big-ticket acquisition by RIL under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, after buying the tower assets of Reliance Infratel – a subsidiary of Reliance Communications - and textile company Alok Industries (Alok).
RIL, which already operates a 360-megawatt (Mw) coal-based power plant in Gujarat’s Hazira, has withheld from investing in new coal-based projects to focus on renewable energy.
Lanco was