Reliance Power offers ₹1200 cr to settle debt of VIPL power project

NEW DELHI: Reliance Power has made a Rs 1,200 crore one-time settlement (OTS) offer to the lenders of its subsidiary, Vidarbha Industries Power Ltd (VIPL), to settle the debt.

Reliance Power has offered to pay Rs 1,200 crore in upfront cash to the lenders of VIPL which include Axis Bank, SBI, Bank of Baroda, PNB, Canara Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra.

The outstanding loan of the company as on March 31, 2022, is around Rs 2,200 crore.

Reliance Power's OTS offer is backed by Varde Partners of Singapore, which is an investor in another group company, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.

VIPL operates a coal-based power project with a capacity of 600 MW in Nagpur.

Earlier, Ahmedabad-based CFM Asset Reconstruction Pvt Ltd had made an all-cash offer of Rs 1,120 crore to the lenders of VIPL.

However, CFM Asset Reconstruction Company is now under the scanner of the RBI and the Income Tax Department for alleged malpractices and business misconduct.

After the offer by CFM ARC offer, National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) had also made an offer of Rs 1,150 crore to the VIPL lenders, but out of this only 15 per cent is payable in upfront cash, while the balance will be paid in interest-free instalments, over next 5 years. The net present value of NARCL's offer is said to be only Rs 850 crore.

Compared to this, the Rs 1,200 crore all-cash offer by Reliance Power is significantly higher and attractive for the lenders of VIPL.