Adani Properties is a frontrunner among eight resolution applicants for bankrupt real estate developer Housing Development Infrastructure (HDIL), two people aware of the development said.
The other applicants include Sharda Constructions & Corporation, B-Right Real Estate, Urban Affordable Housing, Toscano Infrastructure and Dev Land and Housing, the people said.
The resolution process of HDIL restarted last month after the appellate tribunal in January overturned an order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last September that had refused to further extend the deadline to complete the corporate insolvency and resolution process (CIRP).
In mid-February, Adani Properties submitted an offer for land in Virar and Shahad, and a BKC project, one of the people said. Sharda Construction and B-Right have given separate offers for the whole company. Dev Land has bid for HDIL Towers and Toscano Infrastructure has given an offer for Whispering Towers, a residential project in Mulund.
Adani Estate has filed a claim of 285 crore and an Adani affiliate, Budhpur Buildcon, has made another claim of 14,391 crore. Both claims were not admitted by the resolution professional. The RP and Adani Properties did not respond to requests for comment till press time Thursday.
HDIL promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan are under federal investigation over an alleged multi-crore scam that led to the collapse of Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank two years ago.
Last September, the NCLT rejected a plea to extend the CIRP period stating that despite an extension of 730 days, the corporate debtor did not get any successful resolution plan. As per the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, a resolution should be approved within 330 days, failing which the company should be liquidated.
Adani Properties, Suraksha ARC and Sunteck Realty had shown initial interest in acquiring HDIL, but did not submit a firm plan, according to media reports.
The tribunal observed that the company’s committee of creditors wanted to go for liquidation since they did not receive any resolution plan. But due to pressure from homebuyers, they decided to divide the assets into eight projects and invite bids again. The RP, Abhay Manudhane, has admitted Rs 900 crore claims of homebuyers and Rs 6,895 crore of financial creditors.
In a January order, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal set aside the NCLT order and granted a 90-day extension following an appeal from homebuyers. The appellate tribunal observed that the RP had received 25 expressions of interest when it explored a project-wise sale of the company, but the process did not progress due to the NCLT order declining extension to the CIRP period.
