SBI Caps willing to fund stalled Amrapali projects; SC asks SBI Caps to finalise proposal by next week

SBI Cap on June 3 has informed the Supreme Court that it is willing to fund the stalled housing projects of the Amrapali Group, and for this purpose, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) could be created with the Supreme Court-appointed receiver and CEO appointed by SBI Cap. UCO Bank also expressed its interest in becoming part of this arrangement.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U.U. Lalit directed SBI Cap, the receiver - Senior Advocate R. Venkatramani, and the UCO Bank to finalise a proposal and present it before the Court by next week.

SBI Caps, which manages the Centre’s real estate stress fund, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court contending that it has considered the proposal of the receiver, where a scheme was proposed under which the home-buyers would be asked to pay their balance amount/some deposit. It was contended before the court that a SPV would be created with SBI Caps and the receiver.

In the last hearing, the Court had asked the Centre to consider infusing Rs. 500 crore for the projects, which seems plausible now after SBI Cap expressed its willingness to support the stalled housing projects.

Kumar Mihir, advocate for home-buyers, said: “A CEO will be appointed to oversee the projects. This company will enter into an agreement with NBCC for construction. However, any investment by SBI Caps must be given priority in repayment. Initially 7 projects (to be decided) will be considered and will be taken up later.” According to the counsel, the receiver informed the Court that UCO Bank is also interested in becoming part of an arrangement proposed by SBI Caps, through a joint funding arrangement. “UCO Bank also wants to finance Rs. 2,000 crore in lieu of all unsold inventory of 5,221 units as mortgage,” added Mihir.

He said that the MSTC filed an affidavit stating that out of 15 luxury cars, 8 have been sold by it and 7 are not found. The Supreme Court directed the MSTC to take possession of all cars and sell them. “Court also directed MSTC to file a better affidavit with item wise valuation of all properties with principles of valuation applied in the form of a chart,” added the counsel. There are around 46,000 homebuyers who had invested in various Amrapali projects more than a decade ago, but many of them are yet to receive possession of their homes, as projects were stalled due to diversion of money by directors of the real estate company.