Jaypee Infra lenders’ committee to discuss revised bids on Apr 26

NEW DELHI, Apr 20: Lenders of debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech will meet on April 26 to discuss the revised bids of state-owned NBCC Ltd and Suraksha group, which have been asked to sweeten their offers for acquiring the Jaypee group’s realty arm.

In a regulatory filing, Jaypee Infratech’s Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain informed that a meeting of the committee of creditors (CoC) would be held on April 26.

NBCC and Suraksha group are expected to submit their revised resolution plans by April 25 to complete over 20,000 pending housing units to aggrieved home buyers.

In their current bids, both NBCC and Suraksha group have offered Jaypee group’s land parcels to settle their debt as well as monetization of Yamuna Expressway that connects Noida and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, business conglomerate Adani group has also thrown its hat in the ring by expressing its interest in putting in a bid to acquire Jaypee Infratech. Lenders will have to decide whether to allow Adani to enter the race at this stage.

On Friday, crisis-hit Jaypee group promoters made a fresh attempt to retain control over its arm Jaypee Infratech by seeking the support of homebuyers for its debt resolution plan submitted under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Jaypee group chairman Manoj Gaur apologised to thousands of distressed homebuyers and promised to infuse Rs 2,000 crore to complete pending apartments over the next four years.

Jaypee group in April 2018 had also submitted a Rs 10,000 crore plan before lenders to revive Jaypee Infratech, but the same was not accepted.

Jaypee Infratech had to deliver 32,691 units, of which 4,889 units were completed before the start of insolvency proceedings. As many as 7,278 more units have been completed in the last 18 months, while 20,524 units are yet to be delivered.

In 2017, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted the application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium seeking resolution of Jaypee Infratech.

In the first round of insolvency proceedings,  the Rs 7,350 crore bid of Lakshdeep, part of Suraksha group, was rejected by lenders as it was found to be substantially lower than the company’s net worth and assets.

In October 2018, the IRP started a fresh initiative to revive Jaypee Infratech on the NCLT direction.

The realty firm has an outstanding debt of nearly Rs 9,800 crore.

JAL had submitted Rs 750 crore in the registry of the Supreme Court for the refund to buyers and amount is lying with the NCLT. (PTI)