NBFC firm in buyout talks for Jharkhand power project

srei-infra301India Power Corp Ltd is in buyout talks with the Abhijeet Group’s 1,080MW Jharkhand power project, which is widely believed to set off a wave of acquisitions in the domestic power sector. The prospective buyer – India Power Corp – of the nearly Rs 9,000crore Jharkhand project is a group firm of the Kolkata-based non-banking finance company Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd. The sellout move for the thermal power project located in Chandwa of Latehar district was initiated after lenders to the Abhijeet project, including state-owned Rural Electrification Corp Ltd and the State Bank of India, expressed their desire to recover or restructure their loans. The Manoj Jayaswal-promoted Abhijeet group is one of the alleged beneficiaries of the previous government’s irregular allotment of coal mines. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the allotments. Jayaswal has been in talks with Srei Infrastructure, which has approached lenders with a buyout plan, said an insider. An India Power Corp official said they had given their Expression of Interest to the Abhijeet Group bankers for its power assets in Jharkhand as well as exploring other generating assets for takeover. A Srei executive also confirmed the development. Abhijeet Group had decided to bring in a ‘strategic partner’ to help complete various projects which have been affected due to the financial constraints of banks owing to ongoing investigations by CBI, someone familiar with the developments said.