Tata Power buys 75.01% of embattled 1,980MW Bara power plant

It won its bidding fight against JSW Energy.

Resurgent Power Ventures’ subsidiary Renascent Power, a joint venture between Tata Power, ICICI Bank, and other global investors, agreed to purchase a 75.01% stake in Prayagraj Power Generation Company Limited (PPGCL) which owns a 1,980MW supercritical power plant in Uttar Pradesh, also known as the Bara power plant.

According to an announcement, a signed share purchase agreement (SPA) will be subject to customary approvals from regulatory authorities and the transaction is expected to be closed over the next few months.

Local media report that Resurgent Power Ventures and JSW Energy have been wrestling to take over the embattled power plant. In August, the latter agreed to pay $862.25m and beat the former’s previous offer of $846.39m.

According to The Financial Express, even if the plant has fuel linkage and a power purchase agreement (PPA) tied up for 90% of its capacity, the utilisation levels of the plant have been low due to non-availability of coal on account of lack of working capital facilities. It entered into a 25-year PPA with five distribution utilities of Uttar Pradesh in 2008.