In what could throw a spanner in the ongoing debt resolution process of scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd, its former promoter Kapil Wadhwan has written to the RBI-appointed administrator of DHFL, claiming attempts by “outside forces” to depress the value of the assets.
Pegging the total estimated profit from about 10 projects of DHFL at close to ₹44,000 crore, Wadhawan, who is currently lodged in a Mumbai jail, has alleged an attempt to suppress the true value. The letter was written from inside Taloja Jail on October 17, which was the last day for submission of bids for the debt-laden housing finance company under the insolvency process.
According to sources, lenders may have to take a haircut of nearly ₹60,000 crore given that the highest bid is for only ₹20,000 crore.
Calling for due diligence and independent valuation of the properties held by the DHFL Group, Wadhawan has written to R Subramaniakumar, Administrator, DHFL, offering to settle all claims of the company.
Stressing that his endeavour is to ensure maximum value and not to allow bids of lower value to be accepted, Wadhawan, in his letter, also called for a practical and workable approach by all stakeholders to complete the resolution of DHFL and derive the maximum value.
“...at the time of the submission of the Resolution Plan, the cash flow reports of some of these projects were from reputed and internationally acclaimed external valuers who have collectively valued the projects at ₹43,879 crore,” Wadhawan said, adding that these were conservative estimates and lower than the market value.
“At the stage of the development plan, even with the 15 per cent development fee being charged by reputed developers, from the conservative cash flow estimate, it was apparent that all the lenders of DHFL could be repaid without any haircut on the principal amount lent by them and interest was also to be paid to certain classes of lenders,” he added.
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Last November, DHFL was the first financial sector company to be taken to the corporate insolvency process. The pandemic and the lockdown disrupted the process and the deadline for the submission of bids was repeatedly postponed.
“At the stage of the development plan...it was apparent that all the lenders of DHFL could be repaid without any haircut on the principal amount...”