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A two-member principal Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday finally cleared the acquisition of Jaypee Infratech by Mumbai-based realtor Suraksha Group, raising hopes of more than 20,000 homebuyers waiting for over a decade to get the keys to their apartments.
The company was sent for debt resolution by lenders in August 2017 after it defaulted on its Rs 23,000-crore debt. Suraksha Realty had made the winning bid of Rs 7,736 crore against government-owned NBCC (India)’s Rs 6,536 crore offer in June 2021.
Suraksha Realty is owned by Sudhir Valia, a Mumbai-based realtor. Valia, brother-in-law of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma) Chairman Dilip Shanghvi, also helped set up Sun Pharma and owns a stake in the company.
Suraksha’s offer was cleared by a committee of creditors (CoC) and submitted to NCLT for clearance, but was delayed due to objections by several parties.
Jaypee Infratech, which owns the Delhi-Agra Expressway and land on both sides of the expressway, was referred to the NCLT under the bankruptcy code and was among the first cases sent for debt resolution under the Code.
Besides court delays, a banker said the resolution was held up on account of objections filed by ICICI Bank, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, Jaiprakash Associates, the parent firm of Jaypee, and others against the Suraksha plan. ICICI Bank was seeking cash instead of land offered in the resolution plan.
Since the company has been sent to the bankruptcy courts, litigation by stakeholders, including former promoters and homebuyers, apart from CoC’s flip-flop, delayed the entire debt resolution process.
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The company had earlier received interest from JSW, Vedanta, and Adani Group, but they withdrew from the process, citing prolonged delays.
