National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) has submitted a bid of around ₹345 crore to acquire the debt of Kurukshetra Expressway (KEPL), a stressed road asset with outstanding lender exposure of about Rs 15 billion, according to people familiar with the development.

“NARCL has given the first bid,” a source aware of the bidding process said, adding that if the process attracts a counter offer, NARCL will act as the anchor bidder with the option to match or improve its proposal. Lenders are currently evaluating the offer as part of efforts to resolve long-pending infrastructure stress under the government-backed bad loan resolution framework.

The bid follows NARCL’s standard 85:15 structure, under which 15% of the consideration is paid in cash, while the remaining 85% is issued as security receipts (SRs) backed by a sovereign guarantee. The government guarantee can be invoked to cover any shortfall between asset realisation and the face value of SRs, subject to an overall cap of ₹30,600 crore and a validity period of five years. NARCL has been mandated to resolve stressed loan assets of over ₹500 crore each, aggregating close to ₹2 lakh crore.

Kurukshetra Expressway Pvt Ltd, a road BOOT joint venture of JMC Projects (now part of Kalpataru Projects International Ltd), was set up to develop, operate and maintain the four-laning of the Rohtak–Bawal stretch of National Highway-71 in Haryana under the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) Phase III.

The concession agreement with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was terminated in July 2021 following prolonged traffic disruptions and stoppage of toll collections, largely attributed to sustained force majeure events linked to farmer agitations. The project had achieved commercial operations in September 2014 but later faced tolling challenges and disputes that pushed the asset into stress.

In August 2024, KEPL received two arbitration awards in its favour, which were subsequently challenged. People familiar with the matter said no major cash outflow is expected from the sponsor due to any shortfall between debt dues and termination payments.

The proposed acquisition is part of broader efforts to clean up legacy stressed infrastructure assets on bank balance sheets.

News source: News Point App