 "Anil Ambani: Maharashtra government is kind to Anil Ambani, will repay the bank loans to rescue him from the crisis!")
Maharashtra Govt: The Eknath Shinde government of Maharashtra has postponed the plan to take over Mumbai’s Metro 1 line for the time being. But the cabinet has directed the executive committee of MMRDA to evaluate the settlement of the loan of Rs 1700 crore of Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL). Metro 1 is the oldest metro line in Mumbai and 4.6 lakh passengers travel on it every day.
‘Metro 1’ is operated by MMOPL
This is the only metro line which was built on the basis of public private partnership. It is operated by Reliance Infra promoted special purpose vehicle (SPV) Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL). MMRDA has 26 percent stake in this SPV and the remaining 74 percent is owned by Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infra (R-Infra). Mumbai Metro One Private Limited owes six banks – State Bank of India (SBI), IDBI Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and IIFCL (UK).
After the news, Reliance Infra shares rose sharply
Reliance Infra’s stock has gained momentum after the MMRDA Executive Committee ordered an evaluation for the settlement of a loan of Rs 1700 crore. Even amid the decline in the market, the company’s stock rose by 10 percent. Let us tell you that MMOPL had entered into an agreement to pay the total outstanding amount of its creditors in March 2024. According to this agreement, MMOPL has to pay a total of Rs 1700 crore. MMRDA and MMOPL together paid the initial Rs 170 crore to the banks under this agreement.
The government had reversed its decision
On March 11, the state cabinet approved MMRDA’s purchase of Reliance Infra’s 74% stake in Metro-1 for Rs 4,000 crore. Also, MMOPL was allowed to exit the project. But now MMRDA has said that it does not have the money to complete the deal. MMRDA asked the Maharashtra government to give the money but the government refused. On the other hand, the state cabinet also overturned the decision to buy MMOPL.
Plan to hold meeting with six banks for OTS
After this, the MMRDA commissioner is planning to hold a meeting with all the six banks that have dues on MMOPL to discuss the matter. From April 2023 to June 2024, MMOPL has paid interest of more than Rs 225 crore. But the help sought from the government by MMRDA was also rejected. As a result, the cabinet changed its decision to buy it. According to the news published in Economic Times, in the cabinet meeting of June 26, it was decided that the executive committee of MMRDA should be asked to discuss one-time settlement.
Insolvency proceedings were going on against MMOPL
ET’s report claimed that MMRDA was directed to take immediate action to implement this cabinet decision. The decision has also been asked to be implemented soon. Insolvency proceedings were going on against MMOPL. IDBI Bank had initiated this proceeding in October 2023 for an outstanding amount of Rs 133.37 crore. SBI did this in August 2023 due to non-payment of Rs 416 crore. To settle the outstanding amounts in one go, MMRDA paid Rs 170 crore, which is 10% of the outstanding. After this payment, NCLT stopped the insolvency proceedings.