Maytas board goes to lenders for loan restructuring

The board of directors of Maytas Properties has approached the company?s prime lending banks for restructuring its loans. The major banks which have lent to Maytas Properties include the country?s largest bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), the second largest bank, ICICI, IDBI, and the Axis Bank.

Ved Jain, the government nominated director on Maytas Properties board, told FE, ?We have had a meeting with the prime banks of Maytas Properties and have submitted a proposal for the restructuring of the loans?.

The SBI has fund and non-fund based exposure of less than Rs 500 crore to Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure, SBI chairman OP Bhatt had said in January. IDBI Bank has an exposure of about Rs 50 crore in the troubled company, while Axis Bank has loaned nearly Rs 20 crore to Maytas Properties.

The banks had become watchful of their loans granted to the two Maytas companies after the Satyam revelations were made by Ramalinga Raju and were also considering review of their exposures in the infrastructure company.

In January, the Reserve Bank of India had asked the banks to provide data about their exposure made in Satyam and the related companies including Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure after which banks had become cautious in their approach towards the two Maytas firms.

Jain had earlier said, ?We have sought a clarification on certain issues from the company management on their business plan, which we intend to present to the lenders of Maytas Properties. This will help build an image of the company,? he said.

Jain further told FE that the company was also about to restart the stalled construction work of its flagship project ? Maytas Hill County in Hyderabad in the next 10-15 days. The Hill County project has an estimated 1,150 flats and 350 villas under its umbrella. The construction of the Hill County project had come to a halt after Ramalinga Raju disclosures related to Satyam were made which included the names of the twin Maytas companies – Maytas Properties and Infra.

Jain also said the government?s foremost objective is to restore the confidence of investors which is why the company is going to create an escrow account for the investors of the Hill County project to make sure that their investments are routed only in the right direction which is the construction work of the project.