The Adani group is reportedly planning to bid for thermal power plants belonging to Anil Ambani which are now being auctioned by its lenders.

Earlier, lenders of Vidarbha Industries Power, led by Axis Bank, had decided to conduct an auction for their loans under a Swiss challenge mechanism. They have an exposure of over Rs 2,900 crore to the company.

According to a Bloomberg report, Gautam Adani after a recent capital raise may throw his hat into the ring to acquire the loans which will give him control over two coal-based power projects of 300 mw each in Nagpur.

However, the group will face competition from Reliance Power which has reportedly made a one-time settlement offer to the lenders worth Rs 1,260 crore. Reports here said that the lenders have picked CFM Asset Reconstruction as the anchor bidder.

NARCL had also come out with an offer of over Rs 1,100 crore through upfront cash and security receipts.

For Adani, the acquisition would consolidate his position in India’s thermal power segment.

Group firm Adani Power is now the largest private sector thermal power producer in India with an installed capacity of 13,650 mw. It has eight power plants in states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Adani family had recently raised $1.38 billion through stake sales in the three group companies—Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission.

This was preceded by another fund raise aggregating to $1.87 billion which resulted in full prepayment of margin-linked, share-backed financing.