Essar Power may sell gasbased Gujarat plants to pare ₹20Kcr debt

Burdened by a whopping ₹20,369-crore debt, private utility Essar Power is looking to sell two of its gas-based plants in Gujarat to reduce debt, a senior company official said.

“We are evaluating all options for monetising our assets. We are looking at selling two of our captive gas-based plants in Gujarat,” said Essar Power’s chief financial officer Alok Nagpal.

The company has two captive gas-based plants in Hariza in Gujarat with a capacity of 500 MW and 515 MW each, which are currently shut for want of fuel.

“Both these plants are ready and can go operational once we have fuel supply. We are still evaluating its valuation and it may take some time. The buyer can operate the plant immediately once the fuel is available,” Nagpal said.

The company earlier expressed hope that it may be able to commission the 500-MW project this quarter saying it will be able to procure the fuel as the gas prices are coming down.