NBCC to take up stalled projects of Amrapali: SC

DRT to sell its properties

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday appointed state-run NBCC to develop the stalled projects of the Amrapali Group and directed the Debts Recovery Tribunal to sell the unencumbered commercial properties of the real estate firm. The top court directed the opening of an escrow account in the apex court in which the amount received after the sale of properties would be deposited and later disbursed to the National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC) to start construction of the pending projects in Group A and B Categories.

It also directed that the documents and details including bank accounts, balance sheets of all 46 companies including Jotindra Steel since 2008 should be given to the forensic auditors. “NBCC is appointed to develop the projects and preparation of Detail Projects Report (DPR). It can also find out the consortium of banks ready to finance the projects,” the bench said and cautioned the NBCC, saying “once we put the projects in your basket, you can’t shrug off the responsibility of completing them. We will bind you with it”.

It granted liberty to the Amrapali Group to hold talks with banks, HUDCO and other financial institutions for financing the construction of its stalled projects. The court noted that Rs 1,590 crore can be generated from the sale of unsold inventory and said: “Dharmendra Singh Rathore, an officer of the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) is entrusted with the sale of properties mentioned in the list of commercial properties”.

The bench also questioned the Amrapali Group on why it had not filed Income Tax returns since 2015 and what were its in-house auditors doing on non-filing of returns.