NBCC gets government depts approval for revised offer

New Delhi: State-owned NBCC Ltd has received go-ahead from government departments on its revised offer to acquire debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech within a week after its bid was rejected by a lenders' panel due to lack of necessary approvals, sources said.

In its meeting on April 26, the committee of creditors (CoC) decided not to consider NBCC's revised bid to takeover Jaypee Infratech as the same was subject to approval of various government authorities. NBCC had in the meeting sought some time to take all the necessary approvals.

However, the lenders decided to put on vote the offer of Suraksha Realty-led consortium only and not that of NBCC.

According to sources, NBCC has got the approvals from the Department of Expenditure and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) for its revised offer. Meanwhile, financial creditors and home-buyers are currently voting on Suraksha Realty's bid. The voting process started on Tuesday (April 30) and would conclude on May 3.

After its bid got rejected by lenders, NBCC wrote to Jaypee Infratech's Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain that the company was interested in taking over Jaypee group firm and demanded that the revised offer should be considered on merit as it safeguards interest of financial creditors and home-buyers

"NBCC continues to be very interested in the resolution process and accord the interest of homebuyers, utmost priority," the company said in the letter. The company entered into the insolvency proceedings of Jaypee Infratech to provide relief to over 20,000 homebuyers, it added.

To protect financial creditors interest, NBCC said it has offered Rs 5,000 crore worth land as well as 100 per cent equity of Yamuna Expressway, the only cash generating asset with Jaypee Infratech. "We are confident that our proposal will safeguard the interest of the homebuyers and the lenders.

Therefore, we request the CoC to consider our proposal on merit," NBCC said in the letter. Meanwhile, business conglomerate Adani Group had also recently expressed interest to bid for Jaypee Infratech. However, lenders are unlikely to seek Adani's offer until this round of insolvency proceedings gets completed.