As part of its exercise of exiting non-core businesses, real estate firm DLF Ltd has sold its Gujarat-based 150 MW wind turbine project to Bharat Light and Power Pvt Ltd for Rs 282.30 crore. This is the third major deal by the country’s largest realty firm in last six months.
Bharat Light and Power is run by Tejpreet Singh Chopra, previously GE’s President and Chief Executive for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Pruning debt
The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the assets and liabilities, along with relevant long-term loans, would be transferred to BLP Vayu (Project 1) Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of Bharat Light and Power.
The company’s shareholders had approved the sale in July, 2012. DLF has wind power plants in four States with a total installed capacity of 227 MW.
These include a 11.2 MW plant in Gadag, Karnataka, projects totalling 33 MW in Osisan and Ratan Ka Baas, Rajasthan, and 34.5 MW installations in Elavanthi and Panapatti, Tamil Nadu.
DLF has been selling its non-core assets to prune its debt and focus on its core activity of property development.
Last August, DLF had sold a 17-acre parcel in Mumbai to Lodha Developers for Rs 2,727 crore. In December 2012, it announced the sale of Aman Resorts back to founder Adrian Zecha for about Rs 1,650 crore.
DLF’s debts stand at Rs 2,1000 crore. The company had earlier said it would like to bring it down to Rs 17,000 crore.
Non-core assets
Till September-end of this fiscal, DLF had raised Rs 5,773 crore from the sale of non-core assets such as hotel plots and IT Parks/SEZs. The total proceeds after these two major deals will cross Rs 9,000 crore.
Following the news, DLF shares were trading at Rs 277.60 on the National Stock Exchange, up 1.87 per cent from the previous close.