IL&FS gets NCLT nod to sell stake in GIFT City to Gujarat govt
by Our BureauDebt-laden IL&FS will sell its entire stake in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Limited (GIFTCL) to the Gujarat government.
IL&FS has a 50 per cent stake in GIFTCL, which comprises a multi-services Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and International Finance Services Centre (IFSC) totalling approximately 6 lakh square feet.
The Gujarat government has agreed to pay positive equity value of 100 per cent of IL&FS’s stake in GIFTCL. This would amount to ₹32.7 crore. Valuation by an independent agency earlier had pegged a negative value to the equity stake. The IL&FS Board had sought a higher value given the dire situation of the company.
NCLT has now given its approval to the stake sale at ₹32.7 crore. Last year, the Gujarat government had indicated a willingness to take over the project. IL&FS Group invited Expressions of Interest (EoI) for real estate space totalling 4.85 lakh sq ft, as it looks to monetise its assets.
Plans to sell real estate
Plans are also on to sell group-wide real estate assets with an estimated value of around ₹3,500 crore. This includes a mix of commercial and residential premises across Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, which is held by three IL&FS Group subsidiaries. Earlier, IL&FS had put its 2,880 acres of land banks in the Kutch region up for sale.
These are efforts made by the IL&FS Board, overseen by the government and headed by banker Uday Kotak, to resolve a significant portion of its debt by July. In its December AGM, the Board told shareholders that it expects to recover around 50 per cent of the ₹90,000 crore of debt. Kotak assured shareholders that around ₹45,000 crore can be recovered, amid very complex circumstances.
So far, IL&FS has sold off its stake in 7 wind power SPVs for ₹4,300 crore. Further, IL&FS has received a binding bid for its Chinese road asset, which will resolve nearly ₹1,600 crore of debt, with an additional ₹980 crore towards equity for its shareholding in the China asset.
IL&FS is also looking to monetise nine road assets with total debt of more than ₹11,000 crore through an Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) that is being planned.