New Delhi– The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the SBICap will issue funds to the tune of Rs 625 crores from the SWAMIH Investment Fund for six Amrapali group projects and directed it and the court-appointed receiver to finalise the legal framework for this purpose.
A bench, headed by Justice Arun Mishra and comprising Justice U.U. Lalit, directed the receiver and SBICap to finalise the legal framework to regulate the funding of Rs 625 crore and submit the report to the court within a period of four weeks.
SWAMIH Investment Fund is a special window for completion of construction of affordable and mid-income housing projects.
Senior advocate, Harish Salve, appearing for SBICap, submitted before the bench that the financing by it is primarily stuck on the issue of internal rate of return (IRR) of 12 per cent and the supervision mechanism of the projects to be financed.
The receiver left the issue of IRR of 12 percent to the court and stated that NBCC has set up the mechanism to regulate and supervise the projects under the supervision of the receiver’s committee.
After hearing the parties, the apex court directed that the SBI Caps will issue fund to the tune of Rs 625 crore from the SWAMIH Investment Fund for 6 projects, namely Silicon City 1 & 2, Crystal Homes, Centurian Park Low Rise, O2 Valley and Tropical Garden, which will cover 6,973 units in total.
SBICap will be paid 12 per cent IRR but no payment would be made for professional expertise or monitoring the project which would be the exclusive domain of the NBCC and the receiver’s committee.
Kumar Mihir, counsel representing the home-buyers, said financing from SWAMIH will infuse goodwill among other financial institutions to consider financing stalled Amrapali projects. “The top court also allowed the receiver to approach the RBI and explore the possibility of raising funds from other banks and their consortium,” he added.
Advocate M.L. Lahoty, representing the home buyers, said finally the apex court is able to resolve the issue of SBICap funding the Amrapali projects, and the legal framework would be submitted to the court within a period of four weeks.
On Monday, the apex court had asked the Centre to intervene to reduce the interest rate, as SBICap insisted on 12 per cent interest on funds allocated for the stalled projects.
The court has posted the matter for further hearing on September 7. (IANS)
