Lanco Infratech
Industry
Founded2006
Defunct2017 (2017)[1]
Headquarters
Hyderabad, India
Key people
Products

Lanco Infratech (Lagadapati Amarappa Naidu and Company Infratech) was a large Indian conglomerate that became insolvent in 2017.[1][2] It was involved in construction, power, real estate, and several other segments. One of the first Independent Power Producers (IPP) in India, in 2011 it became the largest private power provider in India.[citation needed]

History

Lanco was founded by Lagadapati Amarappa Naidu and his nephew Lagadapati Rajagopal, who was a member of 15th Lok Sabha representing Vijayawada from Indian National Congress. Lanco Infratech was created in 2006 to consolidate the 1960-founded Lanco Group's diverse operations under one brand.[2] Initial growth was driven by large contracts primarily in construction. Later, other infrastructure areas such as power generation, transportation were also added. In 2017 the company became insolvent.[3]

Former major operational power plants

Major Power Projects under construction were:

Real estate

In 2012, Lanco Infratech obtained around 100-acre (0.40 km2) of land through bidding by the Andhra Pradesh government at ₹ 4.27 crore per acre for its ₹ 5,500 crore township project in Manikonda in Western Hyderabad.[6]

Panorama showing Manikonda and Lanco Hills under construction in 2012

Debt restructuring

In December 2006, the company won a large contract citing collaboration with Singapore firm Globeleq.[7][8] In 2007, after winning the bid for the 1000 MW Anpara-C power plant, Lanco requested that the power output be re-negotiated. Some competing firms protested[9] since the re-negotiation made the initial bidding meaningless. However, Lanco managed to retain the Anpara project.[10]

In June 2013, Lanco had won a contract for setting up two 300 MW power plants in Gujarat. However, the contract was cancelled in October 2013, when the company failed to put up the 10% guarantee required in the contract. [11] By July 2013, the company had filed for debt restructuring, citing a business slowdown.[12] In September,[when?] it was revealed that the company had reduced its workforce by nearly half.[13]

Repeatedly tarnished by charges of corrupt practices[7][9][14][15][16][17] the company ran into financial trouble and filed for corporate debt restructuring[18] in July 2013.[19][20] In late 2017 the company faced insolvency proceedings, with the National Company Law Tribunal suspending the board.[21][22]

Liquidation

In August 2018, Hyderabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) ordered the liquidation of Lanco Infratech.[23][24][25][26]

References

  1. ^ a b Mercer, Daniel (26 November 2022). "Indian owners of failed West Australian coal in $1 billion quest to salvage calamitous bet". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Lanco Infratech and lessons from a failed group resolution of troubled debt".
  3. ^ Mercer, Daniel (19 November 2022). "India's biggest private bank bets $1.1 billion on a failed Aussie coal mine while poverty reigns at home". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Adani To Buy Lanco's Udupi Plant". Bloomberg TV India. 14 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Lanco Solar bags EPC contract for 75-MW solar unit from MahaGenco". Business Line. 26 May 2011.
  6. ^ "SC allows Lanco Hills construction".
  7. ^ a b "Lanco's Sasan bid annulled". Business-standard.com. 25 July 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  8. ^ "Lanco blames Globeleq for trouble over Sasan".
  9. ^ a b "Reliance Power cries foul over Lanco Anpara plans". Financialexpress.com. 6 October 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  10. ^ B Dasarath Reddy (30 March 2007). "Newsmaker: G Venkatesh Babu : In the midst of controversy". Business Standard.
  11. ^ R. Yegya Narayanan (18 October 2013). "Failure to provide guarantee: Lanco Infratech loses Rs 3,300-cr contract". The Hindu.
  12. ^ Economic Times (27 July 2013). "Lanco Infratech to restructure Rs 7,500 crore debt burden". The Times Of India.
  13. ^ pti (3 September 2013). "Lanco Group cuts down 4,000 employees due to slowdown". Times of India.
  14. ^ M. Ramesh (27 March 2012). "Lanco issue with Ministry of Corporate Affairs". The Hindu. Lanco has misled the Government on the question of ownership of projects and has won several projects using an opaque ownership structure when the rule says that a developer can secure only one project.
  15. ^ Rohit Parihar (17 March 2012). "Congress Gets Burned by the Sun: Rajasthan govt issue fraud certificates to Cong MP for solar projects". India Today.
  16. ^ "Rs 13k cr scam in national solar plan, claims CSE". The Times of India. 2 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. In violation of norms laid down by the government, a single company, Lanco Infratech has allegedly cornered 40% of the contracts bid out for the first phase of the National Solar Mission, garnering 235 mw worth projects with assured of Rs 13,000 crore over the next 25 years.
  17. ^ "Lanco seeks additional coal for Anpara C power project in UP – Livemint".
  18. ^ "Lanco Infratech to restructure Rs 7,500 crore debt burden". The Times Of India. 27 July 2013.
  19. ^ Friedman, Thomas L. (6 August 2009). "Lanco Infratech in insurance scam | Deccan Chronicle | 2009-08-06". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  20. ^ "Lanco Insurance scam, CM orders probe". Siasat. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  21. ^ "Griffin Coal Mine no longer a subsidiary of Lanco". The Hindi Business Line. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Seven firms ready to bid for Lanco Infratech". India Times. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  23. ^ "NCLT orders liquidation of Lanco Infratech".
  24. ^ "NCLT orders liquidation of Lanco Infratech".
  25. ^ "NCLT orders liquidation of Lanco Infratech".
  26. ^ "SC dismisses GUVNL's appeal for termination of PPA with Lanco Infratech".
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