Adani Enterprises Limited (BSE:512599) (Adani Group) and Reliance Industries Limited (NSEI:RELIANCE) have not submitted revised bids for SKS Power Generation (Chhattisgarh) Limited, making it a five-way contest for the 600 MW thermal power project, people familiar with the process said. Sarda Energy & Minerals Limited (BSE:504614), Jindal Power Limited, NTPC Limited (NSEI:NTPC), Torrent Power Limited (NSEI:TORNTPOWER), and Vantagepoint Asset Management Limited have submitted revised bids to take over SKS under the corporate insolvency resolution process. Among them, Sarda, Jindal Power and Vantage Point are at the top of the list with little to choose between their bids, people cited above said."The bids have been received in the broad INR 17,000 million to more than INR 20,000 million range," one of them said.

"Sarda, Jindal and Vantage are on the top end of the band with less than INR 100 million between them. It means that banks will have to speak with each of them to clearly assess their plans and try to find out the preferred bidder."The resolution process for SKS was initiated in April 2022. The company owes INR 18,900 million to the Bank of Baroda and the State Bank of India (SBI).

Bankers are confident of recovering all their dues because of the high demand for the plant. NTPC, which is currently running the plant in Raigarh district following a government directive aimed at overcoming power shortages, was considered a strong contender, but its revised bid is at the lower end of the band, sources said."Among the top three bidders, Jindal has a 3,600 MW power plant within 60 km of this one whereas Sarda has a coal mine less than 50 km from this plant, making it a good acquisition for them because of the synergies at play," a second person familiar with the resolution process said."But the fact is that there are few operational plants with all linkages available as of now, which is why everyone is so keen," the person said. The total cost of acquisition, assuming lenders receive their full money, comes to less than INR 40 million per MW, people cited above said.

That compares with INR 90 million per MW required to build a similar plant today. The SKS plant has 25 years of fuel agreement with South Eastern Coalfields, a Coal India unit, with a railway line directly transporting coal to the plant - a rare facility. Moreover, expectations of a harsh summer mean that demand for power is likely to jump in the next couple of months, presenting a good business opportunity for privately owned plants to sell power in the open market, sources said.

The reason for both Adani and Reliance not increasing their bids is not known, though people familiar said both companies had re-evaluated their strategies noting the aggressive bids in the first round. Both companies could not be immediately reached. Process advisor BoB Capital Markets and resolution professional Ashish Rathi did not reply to ET's email seeking comment as of press time March 26, 2023.