Jaypee Infratech insolvency: Adani Group offers Rs 500 cr upfront in fresh bid; creditors to meet on 30 May

Adani Group has reportedly made a non-binding offer of Rs 500 crore as upfront payment to lenders, employees and operational creditors for bebt-laden Jaypee Infratech, a media report said. Jaypee Infratech’s financial creditors, which include bankers and homebuyers, will meet on 30 May to discuss bids by National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and Adani Group. As many as 13 banks and 23,000 homebuyers have voting rights in the committee. According to Business Standard, the Adani group has additionally offered 1,000 acres to lenders and Rs 1,700 crore to construct houses for homeowners. Earlier this month, creditors rejected a bid by Mumbai-based Suraksha Realty through a voting process. Later, the committee of creditors  (CoC) decided to put on vote the NBCC’s offer even as bankers were opposed to this move citing certain conditions in the resolution plan submitted by the public sector firm. On the bankers’ plea, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had on 17 May annulled voting by homebuyers and lenders on NBCC’s bid and allowed renegotiation on the offer by 30 May. The voting process could start on 31 May. At present, bankers and NBCC are negotiating on the latter’s bid to acquire Jaypee Infratech. [caption id=“attachment_4034083” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Sources had earlier said that NBCC was unlikely to dilute certain conditions, including exemption from future tax liability, mentioned in its bid but the public sector firm was open to negotiating on the offer related to unsold flats. Lenders have shown reluctance to acquire up to 2,207 unsold flats worth Rs 1,756 crore as proposed by NBCC in its revised offer. On 2 May, distressed homebuyers of Jaypee Infratech demanded that state-owned NBCC’s bid to acquire the realty firm should be reconsidered as they do not have any faith in private companies. Representatives of nine homebuyers’ associations of Jaypee Infratech’s housing projects in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, said that Jaypee group promoters were interfering in the insolvency proceedings to regain control over the troubled realty firm. They also cast aspersion on court-appointed Interim Resolution Professional (IRP), alleging that it was taking the side of the Jaypee group. Aggrieved buyers, who have booked flats in Jaypee Infratech projects, also complained that voting process is not being carried out in a fair manner. In 2017, Jaypee Infratech went into insolvency process after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium seeking revival of the realty firm. In the first round of insolvency proceedings conducted last year, the Rs 7,350-crore bid of Lakshdeep, part of Suraksha Group, was rejected by lenders. Later in October 2018, the IRP started the second round of bidding process to revive Jaypee Infratech on the NCLT’s direction. With PTI inputs