JSPL to sell Jindal Power to cut debt | Economic Times

Naveen Jindal-led JSPL will divest 100% of its power subsidiary Jindal Power (JPL) in order to bring down the company’s overall debt of ₹28,000 crore and to reduce carbon emissions within the group, several sources told ET. The company has received EoIs from various companies and the deal will be concluded by the end of April of 2021.“The divestment is at a reasonably advanced process, in the sense, the buyer hasn’t been decided yet, but we do know that there is enough interest from more than one buyers, we have been receiving EoIs,” said a person close to the matter requesting anonymity.Jindal power has three power plants situated in Tamnar, Chattisgarh with a total power generation capacity of 3,400 megawatts. JSPL’s total sales turnover as of March 2020 is around ₹26,228 crore out of which the steel business contributes 90% and power 10%.“The company has talked about becoming net-debt free in its last annual report FY20, and with this divestment, the debt levels will come down substantially,” the person quoted above said.While JPL has been a profitable business, deallocation of coal block and lack of power purchase agreements in India over the past few years have seen the majority of the assets being stranded, the person quoted above added. JSPL’s gross debt level as of December 2020 was ₹28,159 crore while Jindal Power debt stood at ₹6,532 crore as per the company’s presentations.