Lavasa hill city near Pune sold to new firm for Rs 1,814 crore, hopes rise for homebuyers

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved a resolution plan submitted by lenders to sell the bankrupt Lavasa Corporation hill city project to Mumbai-based Darwin Platform Infrastructure for Rs 1,864 crore. This will pave the way to complete the stranded luxury housing project that has left thousands of homebuyers in the lurch.

Lavasa, located 60 kilometres from Pune in the Western Ghats, was projected as India’s first privately built and managed city that assured homebuyers of an Italian-style hilltop paradise. However, the project got stranded as Lavasa Corporation ran into financial problems and defaulted on its loans. The project was stalled for over a decade.

The NCLT approval came after the lenders cleared the resolution plan which envisages a payment of Rs 1,814 crore over eight years. This includes a payment of Rs 929 crores to banks and an expenditure of Rs 438 crore on delivering fully constructed properties to homebuyers, according to a Times of India report.

According to the resolution professional, phase one of the project spread across 12,500 acres in 18 villages, may take up to 8 – 10 years to complete.

Darwin Platform Infrastructure is part of the Darwin Platform Group, promoted by Ajay Harinath Singh. The Group is present in business segments such as infrastructure, refineries, retail and hospitality.