Beleaguered non-banking finance company Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has put commercial properties spread over more than 540,000 sq ft in an office tower, GIFT TWO, located in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) on the block.
The sale of these properties held by Sabarmati Capital Two Ltd (SCTL), a 100% subsidiary of IL&FS Township & Urban Assets Ltd (ITUAL), will be conducted through the Swiss Challenge process.
A total of 58 commercial offices spread across 21 floors of the tower along with appurtenant car parking slots will be sold on an as-is-where-is basis. These properties include four offices spread over 115,000 sq ft that are already leased to Tata Consultancy Services.
IL&FS has just started reaching out to prospective investors for the sale of these properties.
SCTL was set up to develop commercial spaces in GIFT City and has built two towers with over 1.61 million sq ft total area. Of these, GIFT ONE has been operational since 2013, while GIFT TWO started operations in 2016.
GIFT TWO with a structure of a basement, ground floor and 28 upper floors holds 0.8 million sq ft. While the land belongs to GIFT City, the built-up area is held by subsidiaries of IL&FS. The land was leased to subsidiaries of IL&FS for a period of 99 years from 2013.
“Monetisation of real estate assets is an important part of IL&FS resolution and sale of office space in GIFT City 2 forms part of the same process,” an IL&FS spokesperson said in response to ET’s email query.
IL&FS has been monetising its assets with an objective to manage debt obligations. The failure of IL&FS to meet repayment obligations in September 2018 had triggered a liquidity squeeze that gripped India’s non-banking finance sector.
As part of a clean-up, the government then replaced the IL&FS board, which has since been making efforts to resolve the debt situation.
As per latest disclosures, IL&FS Group has addressed debt of over Rs 56,000 crore and discharged aggregate debt worth Rs 36,000 crore across group companies. The group has retained its overall resolution estimate at Rs 61,000 crore.
Global alternative investment major Brookfield Asset Management in 2022 emerged as the successful bidder to acquire IL&FS’ headquarters, a 10-storey iconic property in Mumbai’s business district Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) for over Rs 1,080 crore.
In recent years, momentum has surged in GIFT City, spurred by a multitude of government-led initiatives and growing interest from private entities.
Through a clarification in July, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that income generated by non-resident investors from offshore investments routed through an AIF established in an IFSC will be exempt from taxation.
The government of Gujarat recently announced its decision to exempt GIFT City from a 63-year-old liquor prohibition law in the state to attract foreign companies to invest in the city.
GIFT City has been fast emerging as a financial hub that has attracted large entities in the fintech sector. It is already home to more than 500 entities including aircraft, ship leasing, fintech companies, banks, funds, and stock exchanges, and over 60 alternative investment funds. It is also home to India’s first bullion exchange with over 100 qualified jewellers on-board.
