JSPL To Divest Coal Fired Power Business To Reduce Emissions, Debt

Jindal Steel & Power Limited has accepted a binding offer from Worldone Private Limited to divest its 96.42% stake in Jindal Power Limited (JPL), a material subsidiary of the Company.

The divestment is in line with JSPL's strategic objective to continuously reduce its debt, focus on its India Steel business and significantly reduce its carbon footprint by almost half as part of its ESG objectives.

"The equity value is an all-cash offer of Rs. 3,015 crores for 96.42% stake in JPL including 3,400 MW Coal fired power plants in State of Chhattisgarh and other non-core assets owned by JPL. The divestment is subject to receipt of requisite approvals including approval from shareholders of JSPL, approval from lenders of JPL and JSPL, and such other statutory approvals, consents, permissions and sanctions as may be necessary in line with the extant relevant guidelines," the company said in a release.

Grant Thornton acted as the Transaction Advisor and ran a comprehensive sale process, reaching out to numerous national & international investors for the asset. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, India, acted as JSPL's legal advisor for the transaction.

V.R. Sharma, MD- JSPL said, "This divestment is in line with our ESG objectives to be amongst the top 10 lowest Co2 emitting steel companies of the world. It is yet another step towards our vision to reduce debt substantially and create a robust balance sheet for our investors and stakeholders. Looking to the future, JSPL will be a key growth driver in the Indian steel industry and will now focus on undertaking expansion of its Angul steel plan To significantly reduce JSPL carbon footprint by almost 50%."