Lenders to consider NBCC plan for JIL, NCLAT refuses stay

NBCC India Ltd's offer for the debt-laden realty firm Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL) will be put to vote by a committee of creditors (CoC) later this week with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday refusing to stay the proceedings.

ICICI Bank and a few other banks had on Tuesday approached the NCLAT with the plea that as they were not a part of the CoC of bankrupt JIL and thus had no voting rights, they should be heard before the lenders decided on the NBCC offer.

After seeking clarifications from the revised offer for the JIL given by the NBCC, the CoC is set to vote on the proposal. The voting is expected to start on Thursday and end by Sunday. The decision of the lenders, however, will be subject to the outcome of an appeal filed by ICICI Bank and the other lenders.

Last year, the Allahabad bench of the NCLT had ordered Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) to return 858 acres of land to the JIL to facilitate settlement process by lenders. The parent firm JAL had mortgaged this land pool with lenders such as State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank to obtain loans. It got the land transferred to itself after lenders had started classifying the accounts of its subsidiary JIL as non-performing assets.

The banks had approached the NCLAT against the NCLT order and the case is still sub judice.

With the ground now clear for CoC voting for NBCC's revised offer, all eyes are on the PSU developer that has put a lot of condition on its bid and has so far refused to dilute those conditions. It is understood that the NBCC had demanded that all income tax liabilities should be extinguished and a dispensation from seeking consent of YEIDA (Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority) for any business transfer is granted.

The CoC will consider NBCC's offer after it rejected Mumbai-based Suraksha Realty's bid on May 3, through the voting process.

Earlier Anuj Jain, the interim resolution professional, had in a letter to the CoC, categorically said that the state-run infrastructure firm's proposal is conditional and based on being granted relief from income tax (I-T) liabilities. Acceptance of its bid by the CoC is thus difficult.

The NBCC has offered to settle the total operational debt aggregating to Rs 9,712 crore by paying Rs 20 crore. Operational debt comprises I-T department claims, additional compensation claims of Yamuna Expressway landowners, and claims of other operational creditors. It has promised to deliver flats to homebuyers in four years. It has also offered 1,400-acre land worth Rs 6,000 crore as well as Yamuna Expressway highway to lenders.

Its proposal also talks about banks monetising Yamuna Expressway and providing half of the realised amount to the public sector undertaking, which it will utilise as an upfront payment. The NBCC will also fund the gap of about Rs 1,500 crore between estimated construction cost and receivables from customers.

--IANS

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