RInfra to sell Mumbai power biz to Adani Transmission for Rs. 13,251 crore.

The Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) RECENTLY announced the sale of its Mumbai power business to Adani Transmission. The deal, valued at Rs. 13,251 crore, is one of the biggest asset monetisation moves the Reliance ADA group has undertaken so far.

RInfra has signed a “definitive binding agreement” with Adani Transmission for a 100 per cent stake sale of its Mumbai power business, which includes generation, transmission, and distribution.

The deal included business valued at Rs. 12,101 crore and regulatory assets approved so far of Rs. 1,150 crore, RInfra said in a statement. Regulatory assets are dues approved by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission that the company can recover through tariff from consumers.

For Adani Transmission, the deal marks its entry into the power distribution business and access to the Mumbai distribution circle makes it a significant player in India’s private power distribution space. “Distribution is the most attractive segment of the power sector, with scope for new energy products from demand response to storage to leveraging data. In future, when wires and supply get unbundled, current risks of the distribution business will go down too,” said Kameswara Rao, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers India.

RInfra had earlier entered into talks with Canadian Public Sector Pension Investment Board for the sale of a 49 per cent stake in its Mumbai distribution business.

BS