Jaypee plans to monetise assets to cut debt

In hunt for strategic partners too

Jaypee Group, with debt of Rs 56,000 crore, is planning to monetise its cement, and thermal and hydro power assets and is hunting for partners to reduce the debt to Rs 41,000 crore by the end of this financial year. Moreover, the company is looking at options to sell a good chunk of its land bank of 9,000 acres.

Jaiprakash Power was reportedly in talks with Abu Dhabi Water and Electric Authority to sell its 300-megawatts (Mw) Baspa-II and 1,000-Mw Karcham-Wangtoo projects in Himachal Pradesh.

“The deal with UltraTech is the first step towards our debt reduction. Though people talk more about the debt, we are sitting comfortably as a Group, as we have assets worth Rs 70,000 crore,” said Manoj Gaur, executive chairman of the Jaypee Group.

Through bulk land sale, the Group is looking to bring down the debt of Jaypee Infratech by about Rs 5,000 crore, from the current Rs 7,000 crore.

“The deal has brought down the debt of Jaiprakash Associates by Rs 3,600 crore,” he said. Jaiprakash Power Ventures is in the process of adding another 3,000 Mw in the next 14 months, through Nigrie project in Madhya Pradesh and the Bara project in Uttar Pradesh. Currently, Jaiprakash Power has 1,300 MW of hydel and 500 MW of thermal capacity.

“Our turnover has increased from a mere Rs 7,000 crore in 2009 to Rs 23,000 crore now. We are constantly looking for expansion. We are currently among the major players in cement, power and real estate. Hence, rising debt or the current difficulties can only be considered as part of the overall dip that the country’s GDP is seeing,” Gaur said.