NOIDA: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has stayed insolvency proceedings against Supertech Township Projects Ltd after it proposed to settle its disputes with Punjab and Sind Bank — its principal financial creditor — within seven days.
The appellate tribunal was hearing an application filed by the company’s suspended directors — represented by its MD RK Arora — against a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order to initiate insolvency proceedings.
On July 12, NCLT admitted a plea by the bank that Supertech had defaulted on dues worth Rs 216 crore in connection with its Golf Country project off the Yamuna Expressway in Sector 22D and appointed an interim resolution professional. It was in June last year that the bank moved NCLT, saying that a corporate insolvency resolution process be initiated.
On Monday, Supertech informed the appellate tribunal — presided over by chairperson Ashok Bhushan and technical members Barun Mitra and Arun Baroka — that it had a plan to clear the dues in about a week.
The developer claimed that 75% of the Golf Country project was ready. The company, its lawyer said, also planned to opt for the state govt’s rehabilitation policy for stalled projects and take benefits of a zero period waiver incurred on interests and penalties during two years of the pandemic.
As of now, Supertech has not accepted the govt’s deal. Had it done so, it could have got a relief of Rs 128 crore.
At the NCLAT, the counsel for the homebuyers did not raise any objection when the developer asked for seven days to settle the dues.
The tribunal scheduled the next hearing for Aug 21 and ordered that no further steps should be taken against the developer till then. It, however, allowed the IRP to continue taking claims from homebuyers and other stakeholders.
In 2011, Supertech was allotted 100 acres for developing Golf Country township in Sector 22D. The project, which saw investments by around 3,200 homebuyers, is still not complete and the company has run into dues worth Rs 677 crore to the Authority. The Golf Country project was estimated to cost around Rs 1,500 crore when it was launched. While Rs 340 crore was supposed to have been financed by a term loan, the promoter was to contribute Rs 453 crore. Supertech planned to raise Rs 706.9 crore from customers as advance payment.
Punjab and Sind bank had sanctioned a term loan of Rs 140 crore as part finance for the project.
