MMRDA Tells NCLT About Plan To Settle Mumbai Metro One’s Dues

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) told the bankruptcy court that the Maharashtra state government plans to settle the dues of Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd.’s lenders.

The lawyers, representing both the parties, told the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that the state government has taken a decision to pay 10% upfront to all lenders, and asked for more time from the tribunal.

The division bench, comprising Judicial Member Lakshmi Gurung and Technical Member Charanjeet Singh Gulati, granted more time to the parties. The NCLT will now hear the matter on 27 March.

The development comes after the Maharashtra state government’s cabinet recently gave an in-principle nod for the acquisition of Mumbai Metro One, which is staring at insolvency proceedings.

Mumbai Metro One, a joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. (RInfra) and MMRDA, operates the metro line from Versova to Ghatkopar in India’s financial capital Mumbai. RInfra owns a 74% stake in the metro line operator, while the remainder is held by MMRDA, an apex body for planning and co-ordination of development activities in Mumbai and its surrounding areas.

RInfra earlier said the total principle debt of the lenders’ consortium in Mumbai Metro One was 1,711 crore rupees ($206 million).

In January, Indian Bank filed an insolvency petition against Mumbai Metro One, following similar petitions by State Bank of India (SBI) and IDBI Bank previously against the company.

Mumbai Metro One was first dragged into the insolvency proceedings by SBI in August 2023 to recover about 416.08 crore rupees. A similar petition was filed by IDBI Bank against the rapid transit system operator in October for recovery of about 133.37 crore rupees.

The Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor, a mass rapid transit system project, was awarded by MMRDA through a global competitive bidding process on public-private-partnership framework to RInfra-led consortium in 2007. Later, a special purpose vehicle, namely, Mumbai Metro One, was incorporated for the implementation of the project.

This was the first metro project in the country financed by Indian banks, according to Mumbai Metro One’s website. The project was financed by a consortium of banks, led by Syndicate Bank, Indian Bank, State Bank of Hyderabad, Bank of Maharashtra, IDBI Bank and India Infrastructure Finance Company (UK), it said.

Note: $1 = 83.0062 Indian rupees

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