The bankruptcy court has recently approved Raigarh Champa Rail Infrastructure’s acquisition by JSW Energy Ltd through the insolvency resolution process.
Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Energy has proposed a Rs 700 crore revival plan against the company’s admitted liabilities of about Rs 543 crore, resulting in a recovery of about 129% for the lenders.
Before the National Company Law Tribunal’s nod, the company’s secured creditors had unanimously approved the revival plan for the company.
“All crystallised liabilities and unclaimed liabilities of the corporate debtor (Raigarh Champa Rail Infrastructure) as on the date of this order shall stand extinguished on the approval of this resolution plan,” said the division bench of judicial member Rajeev Bhardwaj and technical member Sanjay Puri in its order. “Henceforth, no creditors of the erstwhile corporate debtor can claim anything other than the liabilities referred to in the resolution plan,” said the order of January 21, which was recently uploaded.
Apart from JSW Energy, companies such as Adani Power Ltd, Vedanta Ltd, Jindal Power Ltd, Medha Servo Drives Pvt Ltd, Shanti GD Ispat & Power Pvt Ltd, and Sherisha Technologies Pvt Ltd also expressed interest in acquiring the distressed power company.
Also, the NTPC-led consortium had requested permission to participate in the company’s corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) on an independent and standalone basis, which the COC did not approve. The public sector companies Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and REC Ltd (REC) were part of the NTPC consortium.
In an application filed by Axis Bank, Raigarh Champa Rail Infrastructure was admitted under the CIRP on January 1, 2021. Subsequently, all the lenders had assigned their debt to JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Company (JMFARC).
The tribunal, in its order, observed that JSW Group has a proven track record of acquiring strategic assets and turning them around in record time by closely integrating them into its existing operations, thereby creating synergies and optimising costs.
In March last year, JSW Energy acquired KSK Mahanadi Power Company Ltd (KMPCL), a 3,600 MW thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh, for Rs 16,084 crore through the insolvency process. Following the KMPCL acquisition, JSW Energy held significant indirect ownership in Raigarh Champa Rail Infrastructure (RCRIPL), the sole provider of rail infrastructure for coal transportation services to KMPCL.
In the past, the company had acquired Ind Bharat Energy (Utkal) Ltd for Rs 1,047 crores through the insolvency resolution process. The company had also acquired a majority shareholding in KSK Water Infrastructure (KWIPL).
Currently, JSW Energy has a capacity of 13,008 MW. This includes power plants with a capacity of 5,658 MW, hydro power plants with a capacity of 1,631 MW, solar power projects with a capacity of 2,157 MW, and wind projects with a capacity of 3,562 MW.
