Banks to sell 51 per cent stake in Jindal power plant

A consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India has invited bids to sell 51 per cent stake in Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd (JITPL) located in Odisha. JITPL, aB C Jindal group company, was formed in 2001 as a special purpose vehicle for development of coal based thermal plant located in Angul district of Odisha. As on June 30, 2017, the consortium of 17 lenders had a total loan exposure of Rs 5,902.43 crore in JITPL, as per the bid document. State Bank of India (SBI) has the highest exposure of Rs 1,413.89 crore (23.95 per cent of the total loan amount), followed by Punjab National Bank Rs 985.38 crore (16.69 per cent); Axis Bank Rs 584.89 crore (9.91 per cent); ICICI Bank Rs 406.05 crore (6.88 per cent) and Bank of Baroda Rs 337.01 crore (5.71 per cent). UCO Bank has loan exposure of Rs 295.45 crore (5.01 per cent); Union Bank of India Rs 289.67 crore (4.91 per cent) and United Bank of India Rs 278.28 crore (4.71 per cent).

Among the remaining lenders, LIC, Allahabad

Bank, Andhra Bank, Dena Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Indian Bank, Vijaya Bank and Indian Overseas Bank have lending stake in range of 3.96-1.35 % in the company.

"Security Trustee to the lenders holds 51 per cent equity shares of JITPL on behalf of the lenders of the company. The lenders now propose to sell these shares along with management control

in JITPL," according to the bid document inviting expression of interest for the stake sale. Further, it said the transaction related to stake sale is proposed by way of bidding process and "the debt on balance sheet of JITPL may be refinanced based on discussion/proposal submitted by prospective investors". The consortium of lenders have engaged SBI Capital to find a new promoter.