SC orders banks to disburse Rs 1,500 crore for Amrapali projects

On Monday, the Supreme Court directed the Bank of Baroda-led consortium of seven banks to release Rs 1,500 crore by March 29 for the development of delayed real estate projects of Amrapali Group.

A bench of Justices UU Lalit and Bela M Trivedi noted that six banks -- State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of India, Punjab and Sindh Bank and UCO Bank, have awarded in-principle approval for disbursal of funds, while Indian Bank is likely to do so Monday evening. They, therefore, directed all the banks of the consortium to effectuate funds disbursal by tomorrow so that NBCC can put the amount in usage by March 31.

The National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) has been authorised by the top court with achieving delayed projects of Amrapali Group. The top court additionally retained a direction in its earlier order of August 13, 2021, on the plea of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) concerning a blanket ban on the declaration of non-performing assets (NPA) accounts and said that it does not want any roadblock in the funding of delayed projects by the banks.

The bench said it would consult RBI if needed whenever any issue comes before it. Advocate ML Lahoty, appearing for a group of Amrapali home buyers, told the media that the former director of the group Prem Mishra had sold flats, plots and villas even during the pendency of the matter before the top court at the time when an injunction was in place.

He requested the court that Rs 85 crore be recovered from Mishra and the unsold inventory be put to auction to produce funds for the delayed projects. On March 21, the top court told the media that its number one priority is to guarantee that every Amrapali house buyer gets an apartment.

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Also read: Consortium of 6 banks approves incomplete Amrapali projects funding