The government Wednesday cleared NBCC's revised offer to acquire Jaypee Infratech under the insolvency process, days after a panel of lenders rejected the bid of the state-owned company for want of requisite approvals.
NBCC in a filing to BSE said that various government departments have conveyed their approval to the revised offer for taking over Jaypee Infratech.
It remains to be seen if Jaypee Infratech's interim resolution professional Anuj Jain will allow NBCC to participate in bidding process now as voting began on Suraksha Realty's resolution plan on April 30.
The Housing and Urban Affairs ministry has "communicated its approval with concurrence/consultation with Department of Expenditure, NITI Aayog and DIPAM for takeover of Jaypee Infratech Ltd by NBCC", the filing said.
Sources had earlier told PTI that the state-run construction major has received approvals from the Department of Expenditure and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) for its revised offer.
In its meeting on April 26, the committee of creditors (CoC) of the debt-laden firm decided not to consider NBCC's revised bid as the same was subject to approval of various government authorities.
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NBCC in the meeting had sought some time to take all the necessary approvals. However, the lenders decided to put to vote the offer of Suraksha Realty-led consortium only.
Meanwhile, financial creditors and home-buyers are currently voting on Suraksha Realty's bid. The voting process started on Tuesday (April 30) and would conclude on May 3.
After its bid got rejected by lenders, NBCC wrote to Jaypee Infratech's Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain that the company was interested in taking over Jaypee group firm and demanded that the revised offer should be considered on merit as it safeguards interest of financial creditors and home-buyers.
"NBCC continues to be very interested in the resolution process and accord the interest of homebuyers, utmost priority," the company said in the letter.
The company entered into the insolvency proceedings of Jaypee Infratech to provide relief to over 20,000 homebuyers, it added.
To protect financial creditors interest, NBCC said it has offered Rs 5,000 crore worth land as well as 100 per cent equity of Yamuna Expressway, the only cash generating asset with Jaypee Infratech.
"We are confident that our proposal will safeguard the interest of the homebuyers and the lenders. Therefore, we request the CoC to consider our proposal on merit," NBCC said in the letter.
Meanwhile, business conglomerate Adani Group had also recently expressed interest to bid for Jaypee Infratech. However, lenders are unlikely to seek Adani's offer until this round of insolvency proceedings gets completed.
Crisis-hit Jaypee Group's promoters too have made a fresh attempt to retain control over its realty arm Jaypee Infratech by seeking the support of homebuyers for its debt resolution plan under the IBC.
Jaypee Group Chairman Manoj Gaur has promised to infuse Rs 2,000 crore to complete apartments over the next four years. The group had submitted a Rs 10,000-crore plan before lenders in April 2018 as well, but the same was not accepted.
In 2017, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted the application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium seeking resolution of Jaypee Infratech. The realty firm has an outstanding debt of nearly Rs 9,800 crore.
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's direction.
Jaypee Group's flagship firm Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) had submitted Rs 750 crore in the registry of the Supreme Court for the refund to buyers and the amount is lying with the NCLT. Jaypee Infratech is a subsidiary of JAL.
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