Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) has divested a further 26 per cent of its holding in Alipurduar Transmission Ltd, taking the total disinvestment so far to 74 per cent.
In a stock exchange filing, KPTL said that it has offloaded a further 26 per cent of its equity stake in Alipurduar Transmission Ltd in favour of Adani Transmission Ltd. This is in line with KTPL’s decision taken in July 2020 to sell its entire holding in the said asset to Adani Transmission.
The balance equity stake of around 26 per cent will be sold after obtaining requisite regulatory and other approvals and in a manner consistent with Transmission Service Agreement (TSA), dated September 2015, KPTL said.
It may be recalled that in November 2020, Adani Transmission acquired the first equity tranche of 49 per cent stake in Alipurduar Transmission Ltd from KPTL.
For Adani Transmission, the acquisition is in line with the company’s strategy to enhance the value for its stakeholders, through organic as well as inorganic opportunities, as indicated by ATL when the first equity tranche was acquired.
Project Background
Alipurduar Transmission Ltd operates transmission lines aggregating to around 650 ckm in West Bengal and Bihar. The project was awarded through competitive bidding process on a build, own, operate, maintain (BOOM) basis. Element-1 of the project consisting of the 400kV transmission line from Alipurduar to Siliguri was commissioned on January 20, 2020 while Element-2 of the project, comprising the 400kV transmission line from Kishanganj to Darbhanga was commissioned earlier on March 6, 2019. KPTL had acquired the project special purpose vehicle (SPV) from nodal agency REC on January 6, 2016.
Also read: Kalpataru Power Transmission Clinches New Orders Worth Rs.1,345 Crore
Transferring hydropower from Bhutan
Alipurduar Transmission Ltd is slated to play an important role in power evacuation from hydropower-rich Bhutan where major hydropower projects like Punatsangchhu-I (1,200 mw), Punatsangchhu-II (990 mw), Mangdechhu(720 mw) and Wangchhu (570 mw) hydropower projects, are currently under various stages of development.
Power from these generation projects would be transferred to India after meeting small local demand in Bhutan. From Bhutan, power will be brought to Alipurduar substation in West Bengal and the downstream transfer from Alipurduar will be done by the two aforementioned elements of the Alipurduar transmission line.
Featured photograph (source: adb.org) is for representation only
