Ten banks led by Bank of India (BoI) have received Rs 334 crore from accumulated toll collections of the previously IL&FS-owned Pune Sholapur Road Development Co Ltd (PSRDCL). They are also set to get another Rs 87 crore as part of a restructuring deal with its new owners, Roadstar Infra Investment Trust (Invit), a person aware of the deal said.
The asset, which was transferred to Roadstar last year, is now upgraded to a standard asset with lenders as part of the restructuring deal that includes elongating the loan tenure to 2032 from the earlier 2027 and issuing some non-convertible debentures payable over the next 20 years.
“The distribution to lenders was made earlier this month and all lenders have got their share. Another Rs 87 crore will be transferred to lenders by Roadstar in the next few days, so the total amount paid to lenders upfront is Rs 421 crore,” the person said. Banks are likely to book gains from this deal in the quarter through September.
BoI did not reply to an email seeking comment. The other lenders to PSRDCL are Punjab National Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Union Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank.
The restructuring deal was cleared by lenders in September last year, after IL&FS completed the transfer of PSRDCL to Roadstar in May last year.
But procedural delays like insistence by some lenders to take approval of concessionaire National Highways Authority of India and a re-vote because the new tenure was going beyond the project period delayed matters.
“This deal has been long coming but there were some issues. The loan tenure now till 2032 was going eight months beyond the concession agreement with the NHAI. But Roadstar agreed to make another Rs 87 crore payment to ensure that does not happen,” the person cited above said.
While finalising the restructuring plan, lenders recalculated the repayment capacity of the project including the post Covid traffic on the highway. With an operational road, the unsustainable part of the company’s debt was small.
PSRDCL is among the ten road assets transferred to an Invit as part of recovery process from the insolvent IL&FS.
The total dues from the company were estimated to be Rs 860 crore. Lenders will continue to receive payments from the project according to the new terms through an escrow account.
