Two fixed deposit holders take Jaiprakash Associates to NCLT

Two fixed deposit (FD) holders have filed insolvency proceedings against Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Allahabad.  

One of them has a deposit of Rs 56,000 and the other has that of Rs 64,000 for three years.

In response to Business Standard’s query sent to Manoj Gaur, executive chairman, JAL, the company stated that it has received a copy of the application addressed to the tribunal in Allahabad. The company, however, denied receiving any notice from the NCLT. 

“Since the application served upon us does not bear any number, we are not aware whether the same has been filed or not as yet, what to talk of acceptance/admission thereof by the Hon’ble NCLT,” said a spokesperson of JAL.

He also said, “We strongly feel that such baseless and frivolous applications are not maintainable and deserve to be dismissed with heavy cost.” 

The emailed reply also said that cheques were sent to both the deposit holders along with the interest payable, but they went undelivered.

In July this year, the company repaid its outstanding to over 85,000 FD holders. It paid Rs 1,275 crore to these holders. And also initiated payments to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore to lenders.

JAL reported a standalone net profit of Rs 765 crore in the quarter ended June, on higher income and lower expenses, against a loss of Rs 603 crore, in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The company, which has verticals in cement, real estate, power and hospitality, also approved a proposal for raising of funds up to Rs 2,000 crore through equity-related instruments for meeting capital expenditure, reduction of debt, general corporate purposes and working capital requirements for its businesses.

This year in June, the company shed the title of a non-performing asset after the sale of its cement business. Jaiprakash Associates sold six integrated cement plants and five grinding units of Jaypee Cement with a total capacity of 21.2 million tonne to Aditya Birla-promoted UltraTech at a value of Rs 16,189 crore.

According to the deal, operating cement plants in Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were sold for a consideration of Rs 16,189 crore.