LI Network
Published on: 23 July 2023 at 14:10 IST
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai, has given the green light to a revised resolution plan presented by Darwin Platform Infrastructure for the revival of Lavasa Corporation.
Lavasa Corporation was established with the ambitious goal of constructing India’s first modern hill town near Pune. However, the project faced numerous challenges, leading to delays in payments to creditors.
The coram of judicial member Kuldip Kumar Kareer and technical member Shyam Babu Gautam granted approval to the revised resolution plan, which proposes a substantial payment of ₹1,814 crores to creditors and stakeholders. This amount is notably higher than the previously approved plan, which amounted to ₹1,601 crores.
“The Resolution Plan meets the necessary statutory requirements under the Code as well as the Regulations, we hereby approve the same. The Resolution Professional is further directed to handover all records, premises/documents to Resolution Applicant to finalize the further line of action required for starting the operation as contemplated under the Resolution Plan,” stated the order passed on July 21.
The revised plan was submitted following the NCLT’s directive to Lavasa Corporation’s lenders to consider a fair distribution of proceeds from the township developer’s sale to the winning bidder, Darwin Platform Infrastructure.
Earlier, the tribunal had noted that secured creditors should not prioritize their dues at the expense of statutory dues. As a result, a revised plan was presented before the Committee of Creditors, which subsequently granted approval.
In February of the same year, the Resolution Professional had proposed allocating a sum of ₹1,96,54,421 to settle statutory dues claimed by government authorities. This amount accounted for 20.50% of the total sum claimed by government and statutory authorities, aligning it with the proportion of recovery made by financial creditors.
The establishment of Lavasa Corporation aimed to create the country’s first privately developed hill city in the picturesque district of Pune, Maharashtra. However, the project encountered various obstacles, including environmental clearance and land acquisition issues, leading to delayed payments to lenders.
The Resolution Professional was represented by Senior Advocates Ravi Kadam and Ashish Kamat, along with advocates Salonee Kulkarni and Kriti Kalyani, briefed by Shradul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.