Representatives from the Reserve Bank of India did not attend the first meeting of the high-level empowered committee, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, tasked with addressing the issues of stressed thermal power projects.

The committee has representatives from the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal and the lenders having major exposure to the power sector.

An official present at the meeting said that the RBI representative was not present at the meeting.

The constitution of the committee was recommended in a report by the Secretary, Department of Financial Services. It follows an order of the Allahabad High Court that was hearing a plea from power producers. The power companies were seeking a relaxation from an RBI circular in February that mandated insolvency proceedings against companies that did not service their debt beyond 180 days. The High Court denied an exemption to power producers from the RBI circular but directed the high-level empowered committee to find a resolution for the stressed power sector assets.

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