NCLT approves NHPC's Rs 907 cr bid for 500 MW Lanco Teesta Hydro Power project

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Friday approved state-run hydro giant NHPC's Rs 907 crore bid for the debt-ridden Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd.

The Hyderabad bench of the NCLT approved the recommendations of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Lanco Teesta Hydro Power, which had in its meeting in December last year voted in the bid's favour.

"Resolution Plan submitted by the NHPC Ltd for Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd has been approved by NCLT Bench, Hyderabad," NHPC said in a BSE filing.

As per the resolution plan, NHPC would pay Rs 877.74 crore to the financial creditors and Rs 11.12 crore would go to the operational creditors of Lanco Teesta Hydro Power.

"Resolution Plan submitted by NHPC, which is approved by members of CoC having 100 per cent voting share and subsequent revision of bid amount by the NHPC is approved by members of CoC by 97.34 per cent stands approved," NCLT said in its order issued on Friday.

NHPC will fund the project through a debt-equity ratio of 70:30.

The project had a liquidation value of Rs 132.08 crore.

The NCLT had started insolvency proceedings against Lanco Teesta Hydro Power after admitting a plea by its lead lender ICICI Bank on March 16, 2018 and a resolution professional was appointed on April 24, 2018.

Besides NHPC, another PSU Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL) had also bid for the debt-ridden company.

Earlier on September 5, 2018, the NCLT had extended the insolvency period by 90 days and the last date of conclusion of the corporate insolvency resolution process was December 12, 2018.

Earlier in March this year, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved the proposal for NHPC to take over Lanco's 500 MW Teesta hydro-electric power project in Sikkim for Rs 907 crore.

The government had said that the project will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 5,748.04 crore (at July 2018 price level), which includes a bid amount of Rs 907 crore for acquisition and estimated cost of balance work of Rs 3,863.95 crore, which includes interest during construction (IDC) and foreign component (FC) of Rs 977.09 crore.

Teesta Stage-Vl is a run of river (RoR) scheme in Sirwani village of Sikkim to utilise the power potential of Teesta river basin in cascade manner.

The project also consists of construction of a 26.5 metre high barrage across river Teesta.

The project would generate 2,400 million units of electricity in a 90 per cent dependable year with an installed capacity of 500 MW (4x125MW).