Part of Maytas Infra debt went to Raju's till

Banks mull joint recovery plan, deadline month-end.

Maytas Infrastructure, which has filed for debt restructuring, has disclosed to lenders that it had given a loan of Rs 400 crore to some investment companies that belong to its disgraced promoter, Satyam Computer’s Ramalinga Raju.

The corporate debt restructuring (CDR) package, prepared by SBI Caps and being examined by the banks for approval, disclosed that these loans were given as inter-corporate deposits (ICD) to Raju’s investment companies.

Under the CDR package, the company has sought a debt-restructuring of Rs 2,800 crore, including Rs 1,800 crore for Maytas Infra and another Rs 1,000 crore forvarious special-purpose vehicles.

Sources say the investment companies may have diverted the Rs 400 crore to Satyam Computers. “As per the account trail, this loan of Rs 400 crore was finally given to Satyam Computer, routing through these investment arms,” sources close to the CDR package said. Satyam Computer has been acquired by Tech Mahindra and is currently in the midst of a management transition.

When spoken to, a senior executive of Tech Mahindra said, “As far as we know, there is no loan from the promoters’ investment company.”

Sources said the lenders were expected to approve the CDR package by June 30. The process is on to use these loans (assets) as collaterals for the existing and new loans. This, in effect, means the banks will ensure recovery of these loans.

Anil Agarwal, a government-nominated director on the board of Maytas Infra, said the company has given loans to some of the investment companies of Ramalinga Raju and the company is now considering how to recover these. He wouldn’t divulge details.

“The banks need to approve the CDR package by June 30, otherwise the entire amount of Rs 2,800 cr will become non-performing assets for the banking system,” sources said. A leading banker said on condition of anonymity that of the total debt of Rs 2,800 cr, a substantial part was without any collateral. “Once the CDR package is approved, we will create a pari pasu charge (parallel proportionate right for all lenders) on all assets. Once CDR is approved, we will adopt the consortium approach,” he added.

This means the entire assets of the company will be used as collateral for all banks in proportion to their exposure. Hence, recovery of loans or realisation from sale proceeds of these assets will also be the responsibility of all banks.