Lanco plans 3,000 MW asset sale to cut debt

Power and infrastructure company Lanco Infratech Tuesday said it planned to sell 3,000 MW of power assets to raise Rs.5,000 crore ($825 million) to partly liquidate debts.

"Lanco plans to sell 3,000 MW assets to raise Rs.5,000 crore cash and to reduce the additional debt of Rs.15,000 crore," the company said in a statement here.

"Since last one year, we have been working on each of the projects to settle the issues and bring back viability," it added.

Lanco has been negotiating since last year with its lenders to restructure debts and seeking to sell assets in a bid to return to profitability.

In a situation where many private power producers plagued by large debts and delays in completing new projects have been trying to sell plants to raise money, Lanco welcomed the government's initiative to produce one billion tonnes of coal by 2019.

"Lanco is confident that the overall scenario of the power sector shall improve in the next 15-18 months," said V.Sreenivas, chief operating officer, Lanco Group.

--Indo-Asian News service

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