Over 600 buyers from the 16 towers of the project in Noida's Sector 129 have come together under the umbrella of Kasa Isles Welfare Association and submitted their proposal to the resolution professional appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal.
Now, they have approached the insolvency resolution professional with a formal offer. Aman Behal, a core committee member, said the association will need around Rs 200 crore to complete the project and is hoping to scale up the membership to over 1,200 members. "Some money is due to the builder and everyone will have to pay a little more and we will be close to that number (Rs 200 crore)," he said. Some of the flat owners were promised the apartments in October 2013 but an update posted by the Jaypee in July showed that internal plaster and flooring was going on in four of the 16 towers. The rest will take more time as casting work was still on.
"The flats will take at least two more years for delivery and the penal interest itself will be more than 100%," said NS Dhingra, a retired professor and an active member of the association. In July, before the insolvency process began, the members had approached authorities in Noida and had one round of discussions with the Jaypee to take over the project and complete the remaining construction.
"If needed we will put in Rs 2-3 lakh each to save the lakhs that we have already invested and there is no certainty that we will get the flats," said Dhingra. Plus, there is penalty due from the builder for delayed delivery and the Supreme Court is also looking into the issue.
The association's proposal has met with skepticism as far as the court-appointed interim resolution professional and the lenders to Jaypee are concerned, who want to avoid splitting the assets as part of the resolution plan. "You can't have a situation where one person says I will build half the building," said a source.
The IRP will at best split the project into three parcels with the 27 real estate projects being one block, the expressway being the second and the hospital being the third. "We will look at the proposal which offers the best value. If needed, we can split it but if we get a better deal through a consolidated deal we will go with that," said a source. Behal expects a lot of bidders to drop out. "A lot of them are chasing the land parcels and some of them are only interested in the toll revenue from the expressway. We are the main stakeholder in the project," he said.
On Friday, the committee of creditors, which is working with the IRP decided to move to the next stage in the resolution process and issue and information memorandum based on which financial bids will be called, which is expected to take around three-four weeks.
In the meantime, a process consultant will be appointed to oversee the entire transaction and assess the bidders on various parameters. "Given the interest in Jaypee Infratech, it is unlikely that it will go into liquidation. A resolution looks imminent," said a source. This will surely comfort around 25,000 flat buyers who have been jittery about their future having invested their lifetime savings into the project.