Mumbai's municipal corporation has proposed that the Maharashtra government bid and acquire the debt-ridden Seven Hills Hospital or let the civic authority to go ahead and make an offer under the bankruptcy law, the Indian Express reported.
Iqbal Singh Chahal, commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, told the newspaper that the municipal body has asked the state's medical education department to approach National Company Law Tribunal to bid and acquire the hospital. If the state is not willing, BMC can also go for it, the report said quoting Chahal.
BloombergQuint awaits a response to queries emailed to Chahal.
Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai is among the largest Covid-19 facilities in the city. The Hyderabad bench of NCLT, in March 2018, admitted a resolution plea under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code after the hospital chain defaulted on repayment of loans and also faced troubles disbursing the salaries.
The hospital had a debt of nearly Rs 1,500 crore, of which Rs 800 crore was acquired by JM Financial, Chahal told the publication. According to him, the hospital can “be run on the lines of AIIMS in Delhi” if acquired by the Maharashtra government.
The newspaper, however, reported that BMC's proposal is facing some opposition from councillors who argued that the government or the municipal body can build a new healthcare facility at the same cost.
Seven Hills Hospital, located in Andheri's Marol area, was built under the public-private participation model. In November 2019, the Supreme Court set aside the NCLT's order approving the resolution plan of the U.A.E-based Dr. Shetty's New Medical Centre Pvt., upholding BMC's right on the land on which the facility was build.
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