The National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) has made a ₹220 crore offer to take over the ₹1,700 crore debt of Sion Panvel Tollways (SPTL), three people familiar with the development said.
This is the first offer for a road asset by the government-backed bad loan aggregator.
“SPTL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which was formed to manage this highway, which is an important road leading into and out of Mumbai. The account has been in trouble for some years now because of a dispute with the toll operator and the Maharashtra government,” said a person familiar with the offer.
NARCL CEO N Sundar did not reply to an email seeking comment.
SPTL was formed by Essel
, the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) arm of Essel Group. In 2017, the company handed over the toll plaza to the state, citing non-payment of dues to the tune of ₹689 crore.
() is the lead lender to the SPV and will evaluate the offer on behalf of lenders.
The NARCL offer envisages around a 13% recovery for lenders. Unlike other ARCs, the NARCL’s offers include 85% security receipts (SRs), which are redeemable in the future.
Since commencing the purchase of bad loans from banks earlier this year, NARCL has given a binding bid for 12 accounts, aggregating to a debt of ₹67,090 crore, according to data from the finance ministry. Further, due diligence is being done in 22 other accounts, the ministry said.
Banks are still awaiting final government approvals for it to take over
debt for which NARCL had submitted a binding bid in September, in what was the first bid accepted by banks.
Real estate company Jaypee Infratech owes lenders led by
₹9,234 crore. NARCL had offered ₹3,570 crore to take over the debt, the biggest to date by the government-backed bad bank.
People familiar with NARCL’s plans said that Sew Krishnagar Baharampore Highways (SKBHL) was another of the road projects that NARCL is finalising its offer for.
SKBHL is a subsidiary of Sew Infrastructure (
), which was awarded a build-operate-transfer contract by NHAI for converting the 78-km stretch between Krishnagar and Baharampore in West Bengal to four lanes from two lanes (from 115 km to 193 km on National Highway-34, which connects Kolkata to Dalkhola in northern West Bengal). The company owes lenders more than ₹600 crore and was downgraded to the default category by rating agency two years ago.
The project was supposed to be completed by July 2014 but has been delayed due to issues linked to implementation, land acquisition, delay in equity infusion by the promoters, and delay in disbursement of the term loan, Crisil had said in its rating report.
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