Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T), India’s largest construction and engineering company, is likely to sell its 1,400 megawatt (MW) thermal power plant worth INR 9,600 crore ($ 5,932 billion) in Punjab once it becomes fully operational, as part of a plan to divest assets not central to its main businesses, several people close the development. The Rajpura plant is the only power project of L&T that’s being built by its wholly owned unit Nabha Power Ltd. “As per schedule, it (commissioning of the second unit) is in April, but we are trying to do it in March,†Shailendra Roy, whole-time director at L&T, was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India at the inauguration of the first unit in December. (Live Mint)
Stemcor plans to sell non-core assets over two years: The UK-based steel trader Stemcor Holdings Ltd will continue to sell non-core assets, including those in India, over the next two years following a capital restructuring. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), JSW Steel Ltd and Aditya Birla group’s Essel Mining and Industries Ltd are said to be the main contenders for Stemcor’s 73% stake in Aryan Mining and Trading Corp. Ltd that holds stakes in an iron ore and a manganese ore mines besides owning a 4 million tonne pellet plant in Odisha connected to the steel plants hub with a slurry pipeline for delivery. While JSPL and JSW Steel have confirmed they have made bids, Aditya Birla group has not. (Live Mint)
Vodafone eyes other telcos’ assets: Vodafone is interested in acquiring assets of other telecom companies in India, including spectrum and fibre, to get pan- India footprint for data services. Vodafone India CEO Marten Pieters said, “We need more spectrum. I don’t have 3G in all circles. We also need more spectrum for LTE (4G technology). Assets like fibre in metros is expensive so existing assets have a value.†While Vodafone along with Airtel, Reliance Jio and Idea Cellular had emerged strong winners in the recently concluded auction, other players such as Tata Teleservices, Reliance Communications and Aircel struggled to acquire much airwaves. (Business Line)
Courtesy: VCCEdge
