NTPC Ltd, it is widely reported, is keen to buy out the full 51 per cent stake held by Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) in two power distribution companies serving Delhi.
It is reported that NTPC, in a letter to Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), has expressed interest in acquiring ADAG’s stake in two companies BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL).
Both the companies are joint ventures with the Delhi government. ADAG holds 51 per cent stake each in BYPL and BRPL, while the Government of NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi holds the remaining 49 per cent.
It is also reported that private entities like Torrent Power, Greenko Group and Enel Group have also expressed interest in acquiring ADAG’s stake in the two discoms.
If NTPC’s proposal comes through, BYPL and BRPL will lose the status of being public-private partnership companies. They will instead become public-public partnerships, of sorts.
Incorporated in July 2002 as entities carved out from the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB), BYPL and BRPL have a combined consumer base of around 4.2 million.
BYPL’s operations span across its license area of 200 sqkm in the Eastern and Central parts of the National Capital, while BRPL caters to a command area of 750 sqkm across South and West Delhi.
ADAG, over the years, has been trying to monetize its equity stake in several companies with a view to paring its debt exposure. In August 2018, the group sold its Mumbai energy business (including generation, transmission and distribution) to Adani Transmission for around Rs.18,000 crore.
Also See: Adani completes acquisition of RInfra’s power business in Mumbai
Delhi has two other power utilities – Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (Tata Power DDL) and New Delhi Municipal Council. The latter is a deemed licencee that supply electricity, largely to Delhi-government owned buildings.
It may be recalled that in June 2019, NTPC and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd formed an equal joint venture called National Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (NEDCL), marking the foray of both companies in the power distribution space. NEDCL was then dubbed as India’s first power distribution company with a pan-India presence. Power distribution, it may be mentioned, is today an activity where the powrer distribution utility’s command area is limited and lies within a state.
(Featured photograph is for illustration only)
