Ambani, Adani To Compete For Thermal Power Project In Chhattisgarh

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Gautam Adani’s Adani Power are set to compete for distressed thermal power firm Lanco Amarkantak Power at an auction scheduled on 25 November, a media report stated, citing people aware of the development.

Apart from the two giants, a Power Finance Corporation and REC Limited consortium will also be placing bids at the auction.

Lanco Amarkantak Power is undergoing corporate insolvency, and in the first round of resolution plan submissions, Reliance Industries was the highest bidder. If Reliance’s bid is successful, it will mark the conglomerate’s entry into the thermal power sector.

In the second round, however, Adani Power placed a bid of Rs 2,950 crore, where Rs 1,800 crore would be an upfront payment and the remaining Rs 1,150 crore staggered over five years, as per the report.

The report stated that when these three compete against each other at the auction on 25 November, Adani’s second round bid of Rs 2,950 crore would be the base price.

Lanco has a coal-based thermal power project on the Korba-Champa state highway in Chhattisgarh. Its commissioned first phase comprises two units of 300 megawatts (MW) each and supplies electricity to Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Chhattisgarh.

The second phase, which comprises two units of 660 MW each, is under construction.

Construction of the third phase, comprising two units of 660 MW each, is yet to begin.