SC accepts banks’ demands, paves way for funding of stalled Amrapali projects

The court was also informed that the first tranche of the ₹650 crore funding from the Union government-sponsored SWAMIH (Special Window for Affordable & Mid-Income Housing) Investment Fund will be made available for six Amrapali projects in the coming weeks.

In a major relief to more than 40,000 homebuyers of Amrapali Group, the Supreme Court on Friday cleared the hurdles in the way of banks willing to fund stalled projects by agreeing to three of their demands set as conditions for processing the funding proposals.

File photo of the Supreme Court.  (HT )

The court was also informed that the first tranche of the ₹650 crore funding from the Union government-sponsored SWAMIH (Special Window for Affordable & Mid-Income Housing) Investment Fund will be made available for six Amrapali projects in the coming weeks.

The court-appointed receiver senior advocate R Venkataramani, who has been interacting with banks and the government as part of efforts to revive stalled housing projects, informed a bench of justices UU Lalit and Ajay Rastogi that the SWAMIH Investment Fund had delivered the token amount of ₹10 crore to NBCC India Limited for the construction of six Amrapali housing projects. “In a fortnight, a huge quantum of ₹650 crore will come,” Venkataramani informed the judges.

The ₹650 crore will benefit nearly 7,000 housing units in six Amrapali projects — Silicon City-1, Silicon City-2, Crystal Homes, Centurion Park-Low Rise, O2 Valley and Tropical Garden. Of the 6,947 units in these projects, about 6,132 units have been sold till date. The NBCC took over construction contracts of 23 Amrapali projects after the Supreme Court in July 2019 cancelled registration of Amrapali under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, for diverting money received from homebuyers and failing to deliver flats even five years past the promised deadline.

The receiver further informed the Supreme Court that public banks have come a long way forward to fund Amrapali projects but needed an order from court to address their concerns.

During the previous hearing in the matter, the banks raised concerns of sufficient security against the credit provided. The court then assured the banks that the “word of the Supreme Court was sufficient assurance” for the banks to proceed.

On August 9, the Receiver met officials from 10 banks — State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, UCO Bank, Bank of India, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Canara Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra — and crystallised their concerns in a note filed before the court.

The bench agreed to three suggestions made by banks. These included funds to Amrapali projects to be categorised under priority funding sector with a reduced capital charge; status of funds given to these projects through Amrapali Stressed Projects Investments Reconstruction Establishment (ASPIRE) to remain standard in case of default or delay in repayment (without being declared non-performing asset); and, no further external valuation of Amrapali assets on the economic viability of the projects.

Three banks – UCO Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India – informed the court that talks are on to form a consortium for moving a funding proposal. with the court accepting the three conditions, counsels appearing for other banks — Axis Bank and PNB— assured the judges that their concerns stood addressed.

The bench in its order said, “Banks shall now proceed to expedite the process of extending financial provision to Amrapali projects.”

Venkataramani said with this, it will be easier to get banks on board. He further informed the court that owners of 15,748 units across Amrapali projects have not been paying their instalments. Of them, 9,538 flat buyers have not provided the customer data, a record of which is maintained by the receiver’s office.

The bench gave a final opportunity of two weeks to the 9,538 homebuyers to register their details with the receiver, failing which, the apartments/villas booked by them will be included as part of the unsold inventory and will be put up for sale.

The NBCC apprised the court of a fund crunch that was affecting one of the projects, Amrapali Zodiac; the residents’ welfare association was not letting the construction work to go on. Advocate ML Lahoty appearing for the homebuyers informed the court that he did not represent the homebuyers of the said project.

Last month, Lahoty had complained that despite monitoring by the court, funds were not forthcoming. In a note filed by him, he stated that the construction of 46,459 Amrapali units, an amount of ₹8,016.88 crore is required. The assurance by SWAMIH Fund to provide ₹650 crore was recorded by the court on September 1, 2020, but nothing was forthcoming till date. Even on recoveries to be made by attaching Amrapali assets, only ₹7.64 crore has been achieved till date, Lahoty added.