Govt to probe if private developers ‘gold plated’ stressed power projects

As part of its effort to address the problem of stressed assets in the power sector, the government will investigate whether private developers ‘gold-plated’ project costs to increase the debt component, thereby reducing their equity contribution, said power minister Raj Kumar Singh in his first interview after assuming charge. The move comes at a time when India is trying to tackle the issue of stressed power assets. According to the second volume of the Economic Survey 2016-17, released in August, non-performing assets in electricity generation accounted for around 5.9% of the total outstanding advances of Rs4.73 trillion.Mint reported on 4 December 2012 that several private project developers were dressing up their accounts while approac.....