Third Lender Drags RInfra Joint Venture Mumbai Metro One To Bankruptcy Court

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.’s (RInfra) joint venture Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd. is staring at the insolvency proceedings from Indian Bank, the third lender to do so in the past six months.

Following State Bank of India and IDBI Bank’s insolvency petitions, Indian Bank has also filed a similar application against Mumbai Metro One, RInfra said in a stock exchange announcement. Indian Bank is part of a consortium of six lenders, it added.

The company said the total principle debt of the lenders’ consortium in Mumbai Metro One is 1,711 crore rupees ($206.50 million).

RInfra said the financial implication on the company cannot be ascertained and is contingent upon the final outcome of the insolvency proceedings and subsequent legal challenges.

Mumbai Metro One, a joint venture between RInfra and Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), operates the metro line from Versova to Ghatkopar in India’s financial capital Mumbai.

Mumbai Metro One was first dragged into the insolvency proceedings by State Bank of India (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.

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, according to Mumbai Metro One’s website.

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 = 82.8569 Indian rupees)

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