Real estate developer, Supertech on Tuesday proposed before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that it is ready to enter into a one-time settlement with the lender — Union Bank of India.
Union Bank of India took Supertech to the NCLAT after the company failed to pay its debt in July 2019. Supertech has challenged the same in the appellate tribunal. The amount of default, as of January 2021, stands at Rs 432 crore. In the past, the Bank had rejected similar proposals by Supertech on four occasions, the last one on April 4.
During a hearing on Tuesday, Supertech sought a one-week’s time to “sit and try to resolve the issue with the bank.”
Appearing for the company, senior advocate Arun Kathpalia also urged the NCLAT bench to direct the resolution professional not to form the committee of creditors (CoC) till the next hearing, slated for April 19, as it will spiral things out of control and will have “serious repercussions” on the home buyers.
“Till date, in any of the large real estate projects, no insolvency has fructified,” the senior advocate said.
Paying heed to Kathpalia’s request, the three-member NCLAT bench, headed by its chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan, in its order said, “Till the next date, IRP shall not constitute the CoC”.
Supertech has 28 ongoing projects. In respect of one, Section 7 of the IBC has been filed by the Union Bank of India. There are 38,000 flat buyers for its projects and so far, it has delivered only 11,000 flats.
Bishwajit Dubey, appearing for the IRP, said 10,000 claims have been received by the IRP till April 8 and CoC was likely to be constituted next week.
Between 2013 and 2016, Supertech availed two credit facilities, totalling Rs 250 crore, from Union Bank to part-finance a group housing project, Eco Village -II, in Greater Noida.
Supertech failed to make timely repayment and subsequently, UBI declared it as a non-performing asset (NPA). The notice was also sent under the SARFAESI Act in April 2019.