Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited reportedly is seeking sale of 1,000 megawatt (MW) Chhabra project. Rajasthan Government's plan to sell the 1,000 megawatt (MW) Chhabra project is gaining traction with at least three suitors, including US-based electricity producer The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES), shortlisted for the plant valued at around INR 140 Billion. AES India, an arm of AES Corp., has placed a joint bid with Macquarie Group Limited (ASX:MQG).

The other two bidders are The Tata Power Company Limited (BSE:500400) - ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Limited and Adani Power Limited (BSE:533096). All three have cleared the request for proposal (RFP) stage-the process of expressing their interest in acquiring the plant. The bid process is being run by Ernst & Young for the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RVUNL), the state government-owned power generation arm, with the next stage of request for quotation (RFQ), the process of submitting price bids, to be called shortly.

"The Rajasthan government wants to sell its entire power generation portfolio. Chhabra project is first of the lot," said a person aware of the development, requesting anonymity. Another person, who also didn't want to be identified, confirmed the three bids clearing the RFP stage for the project located in the Baran district near the Madhya Pradesh border.

"The talks with NTPC have not progressed. The Chhabra project has another 2,400 MW under different stages of construction," said the first person quoted above. Rajendra Shrivastav, Market Business Leader of AES India, and a Macquarie Group spokesperson declined comment.

Queries emailed to the spokespersons of Tata Power, ICICI, Adani Group, NTPC and EY on Monday evening also remained unanswered. Sanjay Malhotra, Principal Secretary, Energy, Rajasthan government, didn't respond to a message left in his office on January 9, 2017. Queries emailed to an external communications agency for the Rajasthan government and sent to the cellphone of Nageen Kumar Kothari, Chairman And Managing Director, RVUNL, also remained unanswered.