Money raised will be made available to the state-owned National Buildings Construction Corporation to complete Amrapali’s unfinished projects.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday appointed an officer from the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) to auction unencumbered properties belonging to real estate developer Amrapali Group, to raise money that would go towards the completion of its projects.
The court noted that unsold inventory from three Amrapali properties could fetch Rs 1,590 crore, and said: “Dharmendra Singh Rathore, officer of the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) is entrusted with the sale of properties mentioned in the list of commercial properties.”
Unencumbered properties mean those that are not subject to any claims from creditors.
Also read: Supreme Court to order forensic audit of all 40 Amrapali Group firms
The court was hearing a plea of over 100 homebuyers who sought a stay against the admission of a plea for Amrapali’s insolvency filed by the Bank of Baroda with National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Allahabad bench in September 2017.
Instructions to NBCC
The money raised from the sale of Amrapali’s properties is to be deposited in an escrow account, which will be made available to the Centre’s construction arm, the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), which was handed over the reins to the unfinished projects last month.
On 5 September, the NBCC submitted that it required at least Rs 8,500 crore — as opposed to Amrapali’s estimated Rs 5,220 crore — to complete the construction of 46,575 flats in 15 projects left incomplete by the real estate giant. Preliminary studies by NBCC indicated that this amount could go up by at least Rs 3,300 crore.
However, in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the NBCC said it was willing to take on this project only on a consultancy basis for which it would be paid a fee, adding that it won’t invest its own money.
“The NBCC is appointed to develop the projects and preparation of Detail Projects Report. It can also find out the consortium of banks ready to finance the projects,” the bench of justices Arun Kumar Mishra and U.U. Lalit said.
“Once we put the projects in your basket, you can’t shrug off the responsibility of completing them. We will bind you with it,” it cautioned the NBCC.
Instructions to Amrapali
The apex court also directed Amrapali to hand over all the documents to the auditors, so that they can conduct a forensic audit and find where the homebuyers’ money has been diverted. It also allowed Amrapali to hold talks with banks, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and other financial institutions to raise the required money.
Also read: Benami properties in 780 cases involving crores may fall as no adjudicating authority exists
Last month, the top court came down heavily on the embattled real estate giant for alleged diversion of funds. The bench also ordered the attachment of all the bank accounts and movable properties of all 40 firms of Amrapali. The bank accounts of the directors of the firm were also frozen and their personal properties attached.