Pay debt of firm that ran airport line, Metro told
NEWDELHI: The Delhi High Court has directed the DMRC, which has to pay ₹5,164.79 crore to Reliance Infrastructure’s (Rinfra) subsidiary DAMEPL as per an arbitral award, to settle the immediate amount the private company owes the banks for the Airport metro line project, so that its accounts are not termed non-performing assets.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to ascertain what is the immediate amount that DAMEPL has to pay to the 11 banks and to make the payment before March 28.
The court said that the accounts of Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Ltd (DAMEPL) in the 11 banks cannot be allowed to become non-performing assets (NPAS) despite having an arbitral award in its favour.
The direction came on an interim plea by DAMEPL, claiming it has to pay over ₹1,882 crore to the banks to prevent its accounts with them from being categorised as NPAS.
The interim plea was raised by the company in its petition seeking enforcement of an arbitral award of ₹5,164.79 crore, including interest of over ₹2,000 crore, granted in its favour by a tribunal in connection with the Airport Express premium corridor.
The award was upheld by the high court which on March 6 had given DMRC four weeks time to pay the amount.
DMRC, on the other hand, had contended that the immediate need of the company to service the debt was only around ₹186.76 crore and not ₹1,882 crore as claimed by DAMEPL.
Taking note of the stand taken by DMRC, the court directed it to send its officials to all the banks to ascertain “the immediate amount required to avoid the petitioner’s account with the bank concerned to be classified as a NPA and if the account has already been classified as such, the minimum amount necessary to be paid to the bank for the account to be removed from the category of the NPA”.
“DMRC shall ensure that the amounts so ascertained are paid to the credit of the petitioner on or before March 28,” the court said.
On March 6, while dismissing DMRC’S plea against the Arbitral Tribunal’s May, 2017 order asking it to make payments to DAMEPL, the court had allowed a separate plea of the Rinfra subsidiary for a payment of 75% of the arbitral award in its favour.
According to the DAMEPL’S earlier plea, the concession agreement was signed by the two parties on August 25, 2008. Under the agreement, DMRC was to carry out the civil works, excluding at the depot, and the balance, including the project system works, were to be executed by DAMEPL.
The Airport Express line was commissioned on February 23, 2011. DAMEPL had said it had terminated the agreement as DMRC had not cured certain defects in the Airport Express line within 90 days of a notice issued by it.