The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday passed an order cancelling the auction of 9,000 acres belonging to the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub in Sri Sathya Sai District as the successful bidder, Haritha Fertilizers Limited, failed to deposit ₹500 crore by the due date of September 5.
The NCLT has ordered a reassessment of the value of the said land and start the process of corporate insolvency resolution again.
Showing a copy of the NCLT order, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Payyavula Keshav told the media here on Monday that there was a provision in the NCLT insolvency resolution process to file criminal cases against the defaulters in such auction process.
Mr. Keshav demanded that the State government must file a petition in the NCLT and take over the lands of the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub. “The Indu Projects has failed to set up any industry on the land as promised. The government must re-allocate the land to other industries by developing an Industrial Hub such as the Sri City,” said Mr. Keshav.
He said an industrial hub on the said land would augur well for the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub as it is just 75 km away from Bengaluru airport and on the National Highway-44 on the Andhra-Karnataka border.
the PAC Chairman said the Indu Projects had mortgaged the land and taken ₹4,500 crore loan from various banks. With the Indu Projects failing to repay the loan, the corporate insolvency resolution process was ordered. As part of it, the Haritha Fertilizers Limited had agreed to buy the land worth ₹9,000 crore (estimated) at the throwaway price of ₹500 crore,” Mr. Keshav said.
The Telangana government has recently filed a similar petition in the NCLT in the M.R. Properties case, he said.
Showing another document, Mr. Keshav said that the Haritha Fertilizers Limited, which placed bid for the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub land, was a defaulter. “Haritha Fertilizers Limited owner P. Naren Ramanuja Reddy cannot repay the debts of ₹21.24 crore of the company. How can he buy the Lepakshi land?,” he questioned.
As per the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, if the land is not utilised for the said purpose, it should be taken back and the Kiran Kumar Reddy government had cancelled the allocation of the land, but the Indu Projects had obtained a stay order from the A.P. High Court. “The YSRCP government has failed to make an appeal and get the stay lifted and utilise the land for public purpose,” Mr. Keshav added.
