Statkraft is first MNC to buy bankrupt Indian power company under IBC

According to court documents analysed, Statkraft, the largest renewable energy company in Europe, is on track to become the first multinational corporation (MNC) to acquire an Indian power company through the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) process after the national company law tribunal (NCLT) approved its Rs 1.80 billion offer for Lanco Mandakini Hydro Energy. Statkraft, with its headquarters in Norway, competed for the Lanco division against Biocon-backed Ampyr Energy, ReNew Power, a division of the state-owned NTPC, and European renewable energy giant Statec. On the website of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, Bhrugesh Amin is also named as the resolution professional for Aparant Iron and Steel Ltd, Icomm Tele Limited, and Panyam Cements and Mineral Industries Limited. A group of creditors lead by Axis Bank is owed Rs 13 billion by Lanco Mandakini Hydro Energy. They had given the business loans to disperse. The debt relief strategy proposed by Statkraft has received universal approval. The Lanco division owns an incomplete hydroelectric power project close to the Uttarakhand pilgrimage centre of Kedarnath. In 2013, flash floods largely wrecked the plant. Bank loans for the unit were subsequently in default.