Surviving the storm

The Sahara India Group, led by Subroto Roy, Chairman, is facing rough weather as SEBI has ordered the freezing of bank accounts of two of its real estate companies - Sahara Indian Real Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd. The group, with an enviable land bank of over 33,633 acre, has to its credit a dazzling portfolio of realty projects including Aamby Valley City and Sahara Prime City. The SEBI orders came after Sahara failed to refund Rs 24,000 crore to investors as directed by the Supreme Court. Also, the regulator accused the two companies of raising Rs 6,380 crore and Rs 19,400 crore, respectively from shareholders and various illegalities were committed in raising them. All this has negated chances of completion of projects that the two firms had undertaken. The group had sold a number of real estate projects in cities like Bengaluru, Chennai and Mohali. Once known for its high-end projects and more famously for its now defunct airline, the company today is struggling to stay afloat. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.