The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday approved Mumbai-based Suraksha Group’s bid to buy bankrupt real estate firm Jaypee Infratech, nearly two years after the committee of creditors (CoC) had approved its resolution plan. The final approval comes nearly six years after the debt-ridden company entered into the insolvency process.
The development will provide relief to more than 20,000 homebuyers across various housing projects launched by the firm in Noida and Greater Noida.
A two-member principal bench of NCLT headed by president Ramalingam Sudhkar on Tuesday approved the resolution plan, more than three months after concluding the hearing and reserving the order.
A monitoring committee will be set up by the applicant interim resolution professional (IRP) and will take all necessary steps for expeditious implementation of the resolution plan, the bench said. The committee, to be constituted as per the resolution plan, will be set up in seven days.
The successful resolution applicant should deliver the units for the homebuyers’ possession as per the time frame promised in the resolution plan, the bench said.
“The monitoring committee would supervise and monitor the progress of the construction of units, related infrastructure development on a day-to-day basis and file report before this adjudicating authority (NCLT) on a monthly basis,” it added.
In June 2021, Suraksha Group had received the approval of the CoC to take over Jaypee Infratech, with more than 98% of votes in favour of its resolution plan. The other contender, state-owned NBCC
It has offered bankers more than 2,500 acres of land and nearly Rs 1,300 crore by way of non-convertible debentures. It has proposed to complete the pending apartments in 42 months.
Jaypee Infratech’s total claims are a little over Rs 22,600 crore with homebuyers’ share at around Rs 12,700 crore and that of 13 banks and financial institutions at Rs 9,783 crore.
In the first round of insolvency proceedings, a Rs 7,350-crore bid made by Lakshadweep, part of Suraksha Group, was rejected by lenders. The CoC had rejected the bids of Suraksha Realty and NBCC in the second round in May-June 2019.
The matter reached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and then the Supreme Court. In November 2019, the apex court directed the completion of Jaypee Infratech’s insolvency process within 90 days and ordered that the revised bids be invited only from NBCC and Suraksha Group.
In December 2019, the CoC approved NBCC’s resolution plan with a 97.36% vote in its favour during the third round of the bidding process. In March 2020, NBCC received approval from the NCLT to acquire Jaypee Infratech. However, the order was challenged before the NCLAT and later in the Supreme Court, which in March 2021 ordered that fresh bids be invited only from NBCC and Suraksha.
The SC then directed that the resolution process be completed in 45 days, which lapsed on May 8, 2021, and an application was filed to extend the timeline. Jaypee Infratech’s IRP had then sought time till July 7, 2021, from the SC to complete the process.
Jaypee Infratech was among the first list of 12 companies against whom the Reserve Bank of India