Darwin Platform Infra wins bid for Pune's Lavasa city

Lavasa Corporation, which was promoted by construction firm Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), was developing a large township spread over 10,000 hectares in Lavasa near Pune in Maharashtra. (Image source: Lavasa Community Facebook page)

Mumbai-based Darwin Platform Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL) said its bid to acquire Lavasa Corporation through the insolvency process has been approved by the debt-ridden firm's lenders.

The resolution plan submitted by Darwin Platform received 97 percent votes of the Committee of Creditors (CoC), banking and market sources said.

At least 66 percent votes are required for the approval of a bid. After CoC approval, the bid has to be cleared by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

In August 2018, the NCLT had admitted a plea filed by operational creditors who initiated Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Lavasa Corporation under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

"It is very encouraging for us as CoC has accepted for resolution plan and expressed full confidence in it. We have an ambitious and long-term plan for Lavasa Smart City. DPIL has capabilities and resources to meet the expectations of the CoC," Darwin Platform Group of Companies (DPGC) Group Chairman Ajay Harinath Singh said in a release.

Confirming the development, a banker told PTI that the resolution plan of around Rs 1,500 crore submitted by Darwin Platform was approved on Friday with 97 percent votes in favour.

There was another bid submitted by Dhir Hotels, jointly owned by Alchemist ARC President Srishti Dhir and her brother Madhav Dhir, which was not accepted by lenders, the banker said.

On November 25, DPIL had submitted an addendum to its November 20 resolution plan.

Earlier this month, the CoC had started the process to finalise the resolution plans.

There are 16 financial creditors to the debt-laden company, including Union Bank of India, L&T Infra Finance, Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL), Bank of India, Axis Bank, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Asset Care & Reconstruction Enterprise Ltd (ACRE), State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, among others.

The financial creditors have claimed Rs 6,412.75 crore from the company.

So far, Rs 5,560.94 crore of the amount claimed has been verified, according to information on Lavasa Corporation's website.

Lavasa Corporation, which was promoted by construction firm Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), was developing a large township spread over 10,000 hectares in Lavasa near Pune in Maharashtra.

Lavasa was initiated as per Maharashtra's government policy and regulations for new hill stations as India's first privately built smart city.

In August 2018, HCC had said the project was severely impacted by a Ministry of Environment notification to stop work for jurisdictional reasons and not for environmental infractions.

Erstwhile promoter HCC owned nearly 70 percent of Lavasa Corporation Ltd.

Earlier this year, Mumbai-based Suraksha group won the bid to acquire debt-laden Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL) through the insolvency process.