Repayment default: Peninsula Land blames it on delayed rent from tax dept

Ashok Piramal Group realty firm Peninsula Land, which delayed debt repayment of Rs 2.35 crore to SBI, has blamed the government for not paying rent on time for commercial property leased by tax departments that resulted in missing the due date.

In a regulatory filing, the company said that it could not make the repayment of Rs 2.35 crore to SBI as the government's tax departments failed to make timely payment of the rent towards the property leased out to them.

"The debt and interest against this facility are serviced by an arrangement whereby the monthly rent received from the government goes towards the discharge of the dues under the said facility. Lately, there have been delays in the payment of rent by the government which, in turn, resulted in delay in payment to SBI on the due date," the company said.

Peninsula Land has obtained a lease rental discounting facility (LRD) from the SBI against the rent receivable from the government's tax departments, including the Income Tax and GST departments, in respect of a commercial property leased out.

The company has borrowed secured term loan from SBI with the principal being of Rs 177.72 crore and having a total tenure of 143 months at an interest rate of 9.95 per cent per annum.

"...in the month of December 2019 alone, the company has paid an amount of Rs 265 crore towards repayment of debt and interest obligations. Hence there is no question of defaulting for an amount as small as Rs 2.35 crore," the company said.

At present, the company's total debt including short-term and long-term facilities stand at Rs 1,630.65 crore and it owes Rs 999.74 crore to banks and financial institutions.

Currently, Peninsula has a portfolio of nearly eight million sqft in Mumbai and has projects in Pune, Nashik, Lonavala, Bangalore and Goa.