NCLT ADMITS INSOLVENCY PLEA AGAINST LAVASA CORP

The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday admitted an insolvency petition against Lavasa Corporation Ltd, a subsidiary of BSE-listed Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd (HCC).

Lavasa is the country’s first privately-developed city, some 180 kms from Mumbai. It is held jointly by HCC (68.7%), Avantha Group (17.18%), Venkateshwara Hatcheries (7.81%) and Vithal Maniar (6.29%).

The tribunal has approved the appointment of Devendra Prasad as Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) under the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

The petition was filed by one of Lavasa’s lenders Raj infrastructure Development (India) Pvt. Ltd seeking to recover dues under Section 9 of the IBC.

Presiding officer MK Shrawat had reserved the order after hearing the petition on Wednesday.

Rohit Gupta, an advocate for Lavasa, argued in the tribunal that the project was disrupted by abrupt environmental issues.

He said the project subsequently resumed but could not be implemented due to non-cooperation from some of the banks.

Lavasa, which owes more than ₹3,000 crore to lenders, owns about 20,000 acres in Maharashtra. A government registered valuer has estimated the real estate at about ₹9,280 crore.

MUMBAI: