JAL insolvency: Jaiprakash Infratech to challenge bid rejection in court

Jaiprakash Infratech plans legal challenge after lenders reject its bid for Jaiprakash Associates citing EMD issues, threatening delay in the ₹57,000 crore resolution process

Jaiprakash Infratech Ltd, the New Delhi-based real estate firm, is preparing to challenge in court the rejection of its bid to acquire Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL), potentially dragging the bankrupt cement and infrastructure major's resolution into further delay.

 

Lenders of JAL had turned down Jaiprakash Infratech’s offer, citing an insufficient earnest money deposit (EMD), according to people familiar with the matter.

 

The company had proposed a lien over fixed deposits in lieu of the ₹100 crore deposit, but the bid was rejected for not submitting the amount in the prescribed format and for delays in filing the offer.

 

“The lien over the fixed deposits was legally valid and submitted on time,” said a person close to the company, who asked not to be named as the discussions were private. “We have no option but to move the court and remain in the race.” 

 

Jaiprakash Infratech, which was taken over by Mumbai-based Suraksha Group in June 2024, is currently focused on completing long-pending housing projects for customers who have waited over a decade.

 

JAL, on the other hand, was sent for debt resolution after the company defaulted on loans worth ₹57,000 crore to Indian lenders. In March this year, the lenders transferred their outstanding dues to National Asset Reconstruction Company.

 

The fresh legal dispute threatens to complicate the resolution process, with Gautam Adani’s group emerging as the frontrunner to acquire the company after submitting an unconditional bid. Other suitors, including Dalmia Bharat, Vedanta Group, Jindal Power and PNC Infratech, have submitted offers with conditions attached. Lenders have now asked all bidders to submit revised proposals without conditions.

 

Several of the conditional offers hinge on the fate of JAL’s 1,000-hectare Sports City project in Greater Noida. In March, the Allahabad High Court upheld the cancellation of land allotment for the project by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority. That decision is currently under appeal in the Supreme Court.