Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) said it has completed the process of selling its 35 per cent stake in Warora Chandrapur Ballarpur Toll Road (WCBTRL) to majority joint venture partner Vishvaraj Infrastructure (VIL), thereby resolving a debt to the tune of Rs 324 crore from its overall debt of Rs 99,000 crore.
The board of debt laden IL&FS until recently had resolved Rs 52,000 crore worth of the debt of the group. Further, it had maintained its projection of resolving approximately Rs 61,000 crore worth of the debt of the overall group. IL&FS went bust in 2018 with a debt of close to Rs 1 trillion.
With IL&FS selling its stake in the highway project, VIL and Diva Media will now own 100 per cent stake in WCBTRL. WCBTRL was company promoted by IL&FS’s subsidiary IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL), with 35 per cent stake and VIL and its associate company Diva Media Private Limited holding 65 per cent stake.
In the Warora Chandrapur Highway, the majority partner VIL has taken over the entire external debt of Rs 306 crore of the highway project and also provided Rs 12 crore equity. Further, it has also settled IL&FS group’s dues amounting to Rs 6 crore.
The key lenders to the project – Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) – have all approved the sale and change in ownership, IL&FS said in a statement. Further, IL&FS has already received requisite approvals from ITNL’s committee of creditors, Justice DK Jain and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the completion of the transaction.
The company built a four-lane highway project connecting Warora, Chandrapur and Ballarpur traversing along three different highways in the state of Maharashtra. The 64 km project, developed at a cost of Rs 689 crore, has a concession validity till January 2041 granted by the public works department, government of Maharashtra.
