Noida: Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd will fund Supertech’s Supernova project, clearing not only bank dues of over Rs 300 crore but also injecting Rs 450 crore to complete construction that remains. The investor for the commercial-cum-residential project in Sector 94 will have to make an upfront payment of Rs 50 crore to Noida Authority, which will initiate the process of map approval and pave the way for registries to begin for homebuyers. For the residential component of the Supernova project , the Noida Authority board has also agreed to a zero-period waiver on interest and penalties incurred during two years of the Covid pandemic.
It, however, rejected requests for any Covid-related exemption for the other components of Supernova, saying the govt’s rehabilitation policy for stalled projects did not extend to commercial properties. Additionally, the board has decided not to charge any time-extension fee for three years of construction period. According to the deal, Kotak and Supertech must now enter into a tripartite agreement with the Authority and set up an escrow account to oversee the project’s revenue.
All project-related income, including asset sales and sub-lease proceeds, will have to be deposited into this account. The Authority has also asked Kotak to get a third-party verification done of the approved Floor Area Ratio (FAR), the area for which occupancy certificates were issued, and the status of sub-lease documents. The investor must provide detailed information on the construction that is yet to be completed, the price of units and expected revenue from their sale.
Launched in 2012, Supernova became one of Noida’s first luxury projects. It is being developed on 70,002sqm allotted to Supertech Realtors in March 2011. The project currently has liabilities totalling Rs 3,319.
3 crore, which makes it the biggest defaulter in the commercial project category. The project has four towers — Spira, a 300m high, 80-storey skyscraper; Nova East; Nova West; and Astralis. There are more than 2,000 homebuyers, of whom 600 have already taken possession of their flats.
On June 12 this year, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) initiated insolvency proceedings against Supernova after Bank of Maharashtra claimed that Supertech had defaulted on a payment of Rs 168 crore. RK Arora, one of the directors of Supertech Realtors, responded with an appeal at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Supertech informed the appellate tribunal that the company was in talks with investors to settle the dues and complete the project.
On July 3, NCLAT halted further proceedings against Supertech and asked the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) not to form a committee of creditors. It also allowed construction to continue under the IRP’s supervision. In its proposal to the Authority, Supertech said the project could generate over Rs 7,000 crore in revenue, which would enable it to clear all dues.
Kotak, which was in talks with Supertech for some time, came forward recently and agreed to clear the dues of all lenders and pump in additional money to complete the project. It also urged the Authority to clear all decks related to map approvals and registry..
