NHPC board approves merger of Teesta VI hydro power project

State-owned hydro power giant NHPC board on Tuesday approved a proposal to start merger of Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd into the company. The NHPC had bagged the 500 MW Teesta VI hydro power project under corporate insolvency resolution process.

Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd was executing the 500 MW (125 MWx 4) Teesta VI hydro project on Teesta river in Sikkim. "Board of Directors of NHPC Ltd in its meeting held today i.e. Tuesday, October 20, 2020, has approved the proposal to initiate the process of merger/ amalgamation of Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of NHPC Ltd) with NHPC Ltd... subject to approval of Government of India," a BSE filing said.

The project will supply power at a levelised tariff of Rs 4.07 per unit and is likely to be completed in the next four years. Earlier, the Hyderabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had approved the resolution plan of NHPC on July 26, 2019, for debt-ridden Lanco Teesta.

This was the first time a state-owned company had bagged a project under the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code). The project will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 5,748.04 crore (on July 2018 price level), which includes a bid amount of Rs 897.50 crore for the acquisition.

In March 2019, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved the proposal for acquisition of Lanco's 500 MW Teesta Hydroelectric Power Project, and execution of balance works for the Teesta VI Project..