Liquidator puts Beta Infratech gas power plant land on the block at ₹45.37 crore

The liquidator of Beta Infratech Pvt Ltd will auction 35.30 acres of land and buildings at Kashipur in Uttarakhand on 30 November. The land is part of the company’s 225-MW gas-based combined-cycle power plant, and the reserve price is ₹45.37 crore.

The land is at Nand Nagar, Mahuakhera Ganj. According to an e-auction notice published on Wednesday, it comes with connectivity to GAIL’s gas pipeline. Liquidator Sivanagaraja Taduvai, who was appointed by the Hyderabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), will sell it under Regulation 33 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) liquidation process regulations.

The auction will be held on IBBI’s Baanknet platform from 3 pm to 4 pm. The earnest money deposit (EMD) is ₹4.55 crore and bids must rise in steps of ₹10 lakh. A bid in the last five minutes extends the auction by five minutes at a time, but the notice says bidding will not run past 3 pm on 1 December. Bidders must submit their EMD and tender documents by 5 pm on 23 November.

The asset is being sold on an “as is where is, as is what is, whatever there is” basis. Each bidder must file a declaration that it is eligible under Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Promoters and other connected persons cannot bid under that section. The winning bidder must pay the balance within 30 days of the demand. The liquidator can extend that by up to 90 days, with interest at 12 per cent. He can also reject any or all offers without giving reasons.

The plant had a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL), dated 1 March 2017, to supply 107 MW over the long term. According to a 2020 regulatory filing reported by EQ Magazine, Beta Infratech later asked the state regulator to rule on a dispute over UPCL’s termination of the PPA.

The plant’s machinery has been offered for sale before. A March 2023 auction listing showed a ₹202 crore reserve price for two 75-MW GE Frame 6 gas turbines, a 74-MW GE steam turbine, a Thermax boiler and ABB electrical equipment. It is not known whether that sale went through. The current notice offers only the land and buildings.

The reserve price works out to about ₹1.29 crore an acre.

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