Adani Power's IBC buy revived Korba West's shut 600 MW plant in Raigarh

Korba West Power Company's 600 MW subcritical coal plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, had not run since May 2017 after a major generator failure. Its lenders pushed the company into a corporate insolvency resolution process under India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, leaving a large, idle asset that no one could operate.

In April 2019, the committee of creditors approved Adani Power's resolution plan and issued a letter of intent; the Ahmedabad bench of NCLT approved it on June 26, 2019. Adani implemented the plan and revived the plant, which had been closed for about two years before the CIRP began, renamed it Raigarh Energy Generation Limited, and later amalgamated it into Adani Power. The acquisition lifted Adani Power's combined thermal capacity to 11,040 MW and reinforced its stated playbook of turning around brownfield acquisitions.

The revival also required legal finality. Shapoorji Pallonji & Co held a pending ₹45.22 crore arbitration claim, and its rejection by the resolution professional triggered a challenge to the plan. In February 2023 NCLAT upheld the resolution, letting SP pursue only the quantification of its claim; in March 2023 the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the plan binds all stakeholders and cannot be reopened through arbitration or other proceedings.

A 600 MW plant dark for two years returned to service in Adani Power's fleet (11,040 MW), with NCLAT and the Supreme Court making the plan final in 2023.

Buying under IBC let Adani Power take a cleared asset through a court-approved plan instead of negotiating a bilateral debt workout with lenders.

The plant's core problem, a failed generator, was fixable, and Adani had the operating expertise to restart and run a coal plant.

Court finality mattered as much as price: NCLAT and the Supreme Court barred pre-insolvency claims from reopening the approved plan.

The deal lifted Adani Power's fleet past 11 GW, cementing its position as India's largest private-sector thermal generator.

A buyer can turn a shut asset around only when the resolution is final: Adani's value came from restarting operations, while court finality kept old claims from reopening the deal.

Raigarh Energy Generation Limited was amalgamated into Adani Power under a scheme of amalgamation, and the revived unit now operates within the company's fleet. Adani Power has since repeated the same playbook, acquiring and restarting distressed plants including Mahan Energen (1,200 MW), Raipur Energen (1,370 MW) and Lanco Amarkantak, turning stranded capacity into operating assets. The Supreme Court's March 2023 ruling remains the last word on the Korba West resolution.