Ranchi, July 12: The thermal power plant proposed by Abhijeet Group in Chandwa, Latehar, which did not see the light of day, has now been taken over for valuation by Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (Arcil), India's biggest company of its kind.

Arcil will evaluate plant assets in about two months and name a figure to pave the way to search for interested companies, PSUs or private firms, to run it "in about one-and-a-half years", Vinayak Bahuguna, CEO and managing director of Arcil, told mediapersons today.

Nagpur-based Abhijeet Group's greenfield project, which promised to change the rebel-hit district following an MoU with the state in the mid-2000s, ran into rough weather by 2012. Glitches in statutory clearances, law and order problems and Supreme Court's de-allocation of coal blocks in 2014 ensured the plant stayed a pipe dream.

Abhijeet Group owed over Rs 5,000 crore to a consortium of financial institutions. Arcil, which bought the loans, is now working on a revival plan.

"We need active support from state and central governments," Bahuguna said.

He did not shy away from naming the problems. It appeared Abhijeet Group did not adequately secure plant property. "We deputed security personnel to protect assets at the 600-acre site. Arcil will evaluate and make an inventory of assets on the site before announcing their worth. The company (Abhijeet) is not co-operating with asset records," he said.

Bahuguna and Acril VP Ravindra Nath are likely to meet chief secretary Rajbala Verma and energy secretary R.K. Shrivastava during their two-day visit.