SBI-led consortium seek investor for 600 MW power project

A lenders' consortium led by SBI is looking for a strategic investor for an under-construction 600 MW power plant at Raigarh in Chattisgarh.
The consortium comprising SBI, State bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, L&T Infrastructure Finance and PTC Financial Services has proposed to conduct a Swiss Challenge auction for the under construction 600 MW (2x300 MW) thermal power project located in Raigarh, Chattisgarh, according to the bid document.
IDBI Capital has been appointed as advisor for the transaction.
The consortium has already received an offer from an interested party.
As per the bid document, a company is in the process of constructing a coal-fired thermal power plant of 1200 MW capacity Independent Power Plant in Raigarh District of Chhattisgarh in two phases of 600 MW each; of which Phase-I 600 MW is currently under implementation along with entire required infrastructure for 1200 MW project.

The original cost of the project was appraised at Rs 3,787.20 crore by the lenders in the debt-equity ratio of 75:25. But due to delay it has over-run to Rs 5,673.2 crore.

The company has sought further revision in project capital cost to Rs 5673 which is still to be approved by the lending group.
The company had received the consent to establish the project in January 2011. The original scheduled commissioning date of the project was April 1, 2014 and July 1, 2014 for Unit 1 and 2 respectively.
"However, the project suffered a delay due to various factors including non-performance by the selected EPC contractor," as per the document.

Commissioning dates were revised to March 2016 and June 2016 for Unit 1 and 2 respectively in July 2015 and were accepted by the lenders also.
However, the company has again submitted their request for extension for commissioning date till December 2016 to the lenders.
Located in a over 500 acre area, the project is being setup on land located in the Raigarh district close to National Highway 200 (NH 200) which connects Raipur in Chhattisgarh with Chandikhole in Orissa in the section between Bilaspur and Raigarh.