IL and FS moves closer to restructuring of Rs 6,730 cr debt

IL&FS spokesperson confirmed the company having received RP4 rating for ITPCL, a precursor for moving forward on the restructuring proposal involving over Rs 6,700 crore debt.

Debt facilities or instruments with RP4 rating are considered to have moderate degree of safety regarding timely servicing of financial obligations.

This comes as another major development during the lockdown period for IL&FS, after the successful completion of the sale of IL&FS Wind Power Services (IWSPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of IL&FS Energy Development Company Limited (IEDCL), to ORIX Corporation, Japan, earlier this month.

With this rating, ITPCL has called for a meeting of Lenders this week to vote on a restructuring proposal.

In its January 2020 affidavit to the Mumbai bench of NCLT, IL&FS said: "Once the (restructuring approval) and rating by credit rating agencies is received, the parties will implement the restructuring proposal after seeking relevant approvals".

ITPCL has an overall debt of Rs 6,730 crore, as per company's latest filings in NCLT, from 19 banks and financial Institutions led by the Punjab National Bank.

Lenders of ITPCL have preferred restructuring the debt, as against adopting other resolution options, given its sustainable, ongoing and healthy operation ratios.

According to the IL&FS affidavit, its subsidiary was unable to meet its debt obligations primarily on account of overdue amount of over Rs 1,700 crore from Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) and PTC India. ITPCL has power purchase agreements (PPA) with both TANGEDCO and PTC.

As per sources, IL&FS had forwarded the restructuring proposal earlier this year to its lenders that envisaged part servicing of debt over the 20 year life of the plant and treating balance with various options.

IL&FS Tamil Nadu Power Company Limited is setting up 3180 MW thermal power plant in Kothattai, Ariyagoshti and Villianallur revenue villages of Chidambaram Taluk, Cuddalore District. The project was being implemented in Phases with Phase I of the project for 1,200 MW comprising of 2 units of 600 MW each and Second phase of '3 x 660 MW'.

IL&FS Group companies are classified under "Green", "Amber" "Red" categories depending on their ability to service debt.

ITPCL has been categorized as 'amber' but stopped servicing loans -- both interest and principal -- since November 2018 thereby forcing banks to curtail working capital resulting in the company now being dependent on collections from sale of power for its operations.

This restructuring forms part of the overall IL&FS resolution framework approved by the NCLT wherein various companies are either being monetized, restructured or liquidated as per their ability to serve debt.