Lavasa, India’s first private hill station, sold for Rs 1.8k crore

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the sale of Lavasa hill station to Darwin Platform Infrastructure for Rs.1.8k crore.

What’s in News?

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has cleared the sale of Lavasa, India’s first private hill station to Darwin Platform Infrastructure for Rs.1.8k crore. NCLT also approved Darwin’s resolution plan, which included a payout of Rs.1,814 crore. This sum consists of Rs.929 crore paid to the lenders and Rs.438 crore used to provide 837 accepted homeowners with fully built homes.

Objectives:

The main aim of the resolution plan of the Darwin Platform Infrastructure is to satisfy the homebuyers’ claims and deliver completed houses within five years of receiving environmental clearance on an actual basis with a claim amount of Rs.6,642 crore.

Lavasa resolution plan aims to allay the long-standing worries of many stakeholders connected to Lavasa project.

Homebuyers will be required to bear the actual future construction costs payable to Darwin Platform Infrastructure, aims to ensure transparency and accountability in the process of obtaining the fully constructed properties under the approved resolution plan.

About the Lavasa Hill Station:

Lavasa hill station is located in the picturesque Mulshi Valley in the Western Ghats close to Pune. It was created by the Hindustan Construction Company in 2000 as the first private hill city in India.

Some of the largest financial creditors of Lavasa are Union Bank of India, L&T Finance, Arcil, Bank of India and Axis Bank. This beautiful site which covers an area of 25,000 acres has stunning infrastructure and the enrapturing beauty of nature.

The Lavasa Corporation had been granted permission to construct dams on the Warsgaon River and establish necessary infrastructure for the city’s development.

Darwin Platform Infrastructure:

The NCLT members, Shyam Babu Gautam and Kuldip Kumar Kareer, issued the order of approving the sale of Lavasa hill station to Darwin Platform Infrastructure.

Darwin Platform Infrastructure is a Mumbai-based Darwin group with interests in retail, realty, infrastructure and other businesses had actively participated in the biding process for Jet Airways and Reliance Capital.

Ajay Harinath Singh is the Chairman of the Darwin Group.

Raj Infrastructure Development India, one of Lavasa’s creditors, filed a petition against the company, after it failed to meet its payment obligations. The petition was approved in 2018.