JSW Energy agrees $1.6 bln deal for Jaiprakash hydro assets

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's JSW Energy Ltd said on Sunday it had agreed to buy two hydropower projects from Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd for 97 billion Indian rupees ($1.57 billion) including debt.

The two projects -- both in the north Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh -- have a combined capacity of 1,391 megawatts, JSW said in a statement.

Jaiprakash has been in talks with JSW, controlled by billionaire Sajjan Jindal, since September, part of its efforts to sell assets and pay down its debts.

The talks with JSW followed the collapse of two sets of negotiations -- first with a consortium led by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Co in July, and then with Reliance Power Ltd in September -- over the sale of Jaiprakash's hydropower projects.

Jaiprakash, alongside its parent Jaiprakash Associates, is one of several Indian power and infrastructure companies weighed down by debts and weak profitability. Many of these firms have struggled to sell assets as quickly as hoped.

For JSW, the purchase of the hydropower projects marks an expansion of its portfolio beyond coal and lignite-based plants.

JSW said in September it would also acquire a thermal power plant in central India from Jaiprakash, but there was no update on the status of that project on Sunday.

(1 US dollar = 61.7050 Indian rupee)

(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Paul Tait and Mark Potter)