Lenders to Jaypee Infratech get control of more land parcels
2 min read 01 Apr 2016, 03:22 PM ISTThe transfer of 250 acres along the Yamuna Expressway is not part of the collateral provided for the outstanding loan
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Mumbai: Lenders to Jaypee Infratech Ltd have taken control of additional parcels of land along Yamuna Expressway, said two people familiar with the developments, requesting anonymity.
In January, Jaypee Infratech had transferred ownership of 250 acres. This week, the ownership of additional parcels of land has been transferred, said the first person quoted above, adding that this is not part of the collateral provided for the outstanding loan. This implies that banks can sell these land parcels to recover dues even before a default on the loans.
“The company has ownership of land alongside the Expressway as part of a development deal. As recovering cash from the project might be an issue right now, we have asked the company to give us additional parcels of land. We can then recover through a sale on our own," said the second person quoted above.
A email query sent to a Jaypee Group spokesperson on Friday was not answered till the filing of the report, but the spokesperson acknowledged the receipt of the query.
According to Narayan K. Seshadri, chairman at business advisory Tranzmute Capital and Management Pvt. Ltd, the banks may need to hold on to these assets due to a weak market. “The first step is to secure the asset, which the bankers are doing. The next step would be to ensure that sale happens and necessary recovery is made from the asset," said Seshadri. “The problem however is that land prices have fallen consistently and sales may not fetch what the original estimate had been. Maybe banks would need to hold on to such assets and wait for the market to turn around,"
On Wednesday, CNBC-TV18 reported that Jaypee Infratech was going to hand over a land parcel to reduce debt and that the IDBI Bank-led consortium would take over 500-600 acres of land worth about ₹ 3,000 crore.
Jaypee Infratech’s standalone debt associated with the Yamuna Expressway stood at ₹ 8,768.54 crore, as on 30 September. The integrated Yamuna Expressway project includes construction, operation and maintenance of the Expressway and the rights for developing over 6,175 acres of land. Jaypee Infratech is developing 5 townships on this land.
Built under the private-public-partnership model in partnership with the Uttar Pradesh government, the Yamuna Expressway had a project cost of more than ₹ 12,000 crore.
The expressway, which became operational in August 2012, had reported average daily traffic of 16,490 passenger cars for the year ended 31 March with aggregate toll collection revenue of ₹ 168.65 crore.
In November, Mint reported that the Jaypee group is in talks to sell its entire holding in the expressway project, after a year-long effort to sell a partial stake in the asset failed to materialize. The debt-laden group was in talks with infrastructure-focussed funds—IDFC Alternatives and I Squared Capital—for the sale.
On Friday, shares of Jaypee Infratech Ltd closed at ₹ 8.85 per share, up 5.36%. The benchmark index Sensex closed 0.28% lower at 25,269.64 points.
