RattanIndia sells entire solar portfolio of 306 Mw to GIP for Rs 1,670 cr

With this, RattanIndia now has only two power plants--Amaravati thermal plant for which it did debt recast last December, and Nashik thermal plant, a stressed asset

RattanIndia Group sold off its entire solar power project fleet totalling 306 Mw to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), one of the largest private equity firms in the renewable energy and infrastructure space. The deal value is Rs 1,670 crore, RattanIndia said in a public statement.

With this deal, RattanIndia now has only two power plants in its basket – Amaravati thermal power plant (1,350 MW) for which it concluded debt restructuring in December 2019 and Nashik thermal power plant (1,350 MW) which is a stressed asset.

The Group’s solar assets included ground mounted projects of 297 MW including 50 MW in Pavagada in Karnataka and 70 MW in Bhadla, Rajasthan –two of India’s largest solar power parks.

The projects have 25 years Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) 95 per cent of have power purchase agreement with NTPC and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), said the Group’s statement. Average tariff of RattanIndia solar projects is Rs. 4.50/kwh

“This transaction demonstrates RattanIndia group’s continued track record of developing high-quality infrastructure assets in energy space and creating value for all stakeholders. This makes RattanIndia a partner of choice for high-quality international investors like GE and GIP,” said Anjali Rattan Nashier, Chairperson of RattanIndia Solar.

In December 2019, Rattan India’s Amravati power project (1,350 MW) project had concluded its debt restructuring with new lenders coming on board. Goldman Sachs and Varde Partners took over Rs 4,050 crore of the total debt from the existing lenders. This also included 15 per cent equity each in the project.

Rajiv Rattan, Chairman, RattanIndia Group had then told the paper, “We don't have any plan for a greenfield investment in thermal sector.” The Group also shelved the plans to expand the Amravati power project citing lack of long-term power purchase agreements from the states.