JSW, Vedanta, Adani among companies keen to buy GVK Energy's asset

Mumbai: JSW Energy, Adani Power and Vedanta are among more than a dozen companies that have expressed interest in acquiring GVK Energy's 330 MW Alaknanda hydro power project in Uttarakhand, according to people familiar with the matter.

In May, insolvency proceedings were permitted against GVK Group company GVK Energy, which has five subsidiaries and owes lenders ₹9,757 crore in direct and in direct exposure. Of these five subsidiaries, Alaknanda Hydro Power and GVK Coal (Tokisud) Company remain to be resolved.

Torrent Power, Sarda Energy and Mineral, Jindal Steel & Power and Jindal India Power are some of the other companies that are interested in acquiring the Alaknanda plant, GVK Energy's only remaining operational power plant, the people cited earlier said.

"Saturday was the last day to give expressions of interest which will be scrutinised and objections addressed. It is likely that the list of prospective applicants will be finalised later this month, following which applicants will be given another month at least to submit resolution plans," said a person aware of the details.

Resolution professional Venkata Chalam Varanasi did not respond to ET's request for comment.

The bidding companies could not be immediately reached for comment. The banking sector's exposure to GVK Energy is mostly limited to corporate guarantees taken by the company for loans taken by its subsidiaries.

Phoenix ARC is the only secured creditor to the company, having taken over loans from Edelweiss Finance last year which were backed by shares as securities. GVK Energy owes Phoenix ₹1,351 crore, or 12% of the total claims.