The Greenko Group is buying a chunk of Teesta Stage-III in Sikkim in a multi-phased transaction. The transaction will further add up to the operating renewable portfolio of Greenko, backed by Singapore’s GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, to 6.2 GW and give a much-needed exit to the project’s original financiers.
To start with, Greenko Group will buy a 40 percent stake in Teesta Urja (TUL) for USD 200-250 million (Rs 1,400-1,750 crore) from Singapore-based Asian Genco. The company has already applied for approvals from the Competition Commission of India. The government of Sikkim owns the remaining 60 percent in TUL.
The state government had taken Rs 3,000 crore leverage for project completion and its stated position has been to dilute the stake over a period of time. TUL, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), got created to develop the project as a build-own-operate-transfer contract for 35 years, after which the project was to be returned to the state government.
The project includes a 60 mtr high concrete-faced rockfill dam with two tunnel spillways, a reservoir flushing tunnel, two desilting chambers, a headrace tunnel and surge shaft, along with two pressure shafts. The underground powerhouse contains six 200 MW turbine-generator units. The project was completed in February 2017. The initial project cost was fixed at Rs 5,705 crore as per the techno economic clearance at 2005 prices. Currently it has debt alone of Rs 10,000 crore.