Navabharat purchase clean, Essar Power says

Essar Group firm Essar Power on Wednesday clarified that its acquisition of Navabharat Power, a 2,250 megawatt coal-fuelled power plant in Orissa, is legal.

Essar Energy had purchased a 100 per cent stake in the company for Rs 230 crore, the payment was in two tranches—July 2010 and April 2011.

Navabharat is one of the five companies against which the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday registered FIRs for criminal conspiracy to get coal blocks.

The agency has also conducted searches across the company’s properties and the residences of industrialist Yarlagadda Harish Chandra Prasad and company director P. Trivikrama Prasad.

Cases have also been booked against the former promoters of the company.

The CBI has alleged that the then promoters of Navabharat made false claims in their application for blocks and then sold their stakes in an irregular manner after the allotment was made.

“The entire acquisition was carried out in a transparent manner with independent financial and legal advisors assisting the company in the process of acquisition,” the note said.

The company has also denied allegations that it is a “front” company for Essar.