NBCC "No More Interested" In Jaypee Infratech Acquisition: Report

Although the distressed home buyers of Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL) are urging the government to intervene in the resolution process of the bankrupt realty firm in support of NBCC's bid, the public sector construction major, according to sources, is no more interested in acquiring JIL and its stalled projects.

After the latest round of voting, whereby NBCC's bid was rejected as the banks led by IDBI Bank voted against it, the management in the state-run company is not enthusiastic about moving ahead on that front as there is no "possible chance of unanimity among the home buyers and the banks," sources said.

"Such are the differences that, if the banks are 'north pole', homebuyers are 'south pole'. The only possible way forward for Jaypee seems to be liquidation," said an NBCC official.

"We are not aggressive. If we were aggressive, our lawyer would have been there at the NCLAT now," the official added.

Further, change in guard at the 'Navratna' company has also impacted its approach towards the bankrupt JIL, people in the know of things said. 

NBCC Chairman Anoop Kumar Mittal, who was known to be bullish with his intention to acquire JIL, relinquished his office in March 2019 after the government denied extension of his service till his date of superannuation in January 2020.

Another bureaucrat, Shiv Das Meena, assumed the office of chairman-cum-managing director, NBCC (India), with effect from April 5, 2019.

Homebuyers, on the other hand, have off late protested and written letters to the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and the Housing and Urban Affairs Minister asking the government to direct the IDBI Bank to accept the NBCC bid.

The bid to acquire the insolvent JIL was put to vote from May 31 to June 10 and a majority of the lenders, led by IDBI Bank, voted against the bid on the grounds that it was conditional. Homebuyers, however, were in favour of the bid.

The NBCC's bid seeks the cancellation of an estimated income tax liability of Rs 33,000 crore due over a period of 30 years under the concession agreement for the transfer of land from the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority to JIL. 

After the last round of voting, Adani Infrastructure and Development (AIDPL), which in April had shown interest in acquiring Jaypee Infratech's assets, earlier this week said that it would complete the stalled projects in four years' time if it is allowed to take over JIL. This is the second time Adani group has shown interest in acquiring the insolvent company.

In the committee of creditors' (CoC) meeting on June 20, the offer was discussed and it was decided that resolution professional (RP) Anuj Jain would inquire from AIDPL about the completion timeline.

The CoC is likely to issue fresh expressions of interest (EoI) for JIL after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) hearing on the IDBI Bank's plea over NBCC bid on July 2.