Mumbai, Jul 21 (IANS): In a significant development, the NCLT's Mumbai bench on Friday awarded the beleaguered Lavasa City project in Pune to the Mumbai-based Darwin Platform Group of Companies (DPGC) headed by businessman Ajay Harinath Singh.

The National Company Law Tribunal's Mumbai Bench, comprising members Kuldeep Kumar Kareer (Judicial) and Shyam Babu Gautam (Technical), pronounced its final verdict in the case this evening.

In December 2021, the DPGC’S Darwin Platform Infrastructure Ltd (DPIL) had won the financial bid for Lavasa Corporation - India's first privately-built, hill-station smart city coming up near Pune.

The Lavasa’s Committee of Creditors (CoC) had voted in favour of the plan submitted by DPIL, which proposed a Total Resolution Plan of Rs 1,814 crore.

“The DPIL is committed to executing the Plan as per the schedule proposed to the CoC. We are very eager to revitalise this ambitious project,” said Singh, after the much-anticipated verdict.

DPGC’s lawyer Rohit Jain said that the DPIL has already unveiled its proposed short and long-term plans including upfront payment, schedule of payment to home buyers, construction and delivery of homes to buyers, and the redemption of the secured NCDs among others.

Adding working capital, repairs/refurbishment, and other construction works, the company has offered a total of Rs 1,814 in its Final Resolution Plan submitted to the CoC.

Lavasa in Mulshi in Pune district is India’s first post-Independence hill-station developed in the picturesque Sahyadri ranges of the Western Ghats. It is coming up on a 100 sq km hilly terrain with an elevation of around 630 metres (2,000 feet), inspired and being designed on the lines of an Italian resort of Portofino.

Singh said that the NCLT has entrusted his company with the challenging task of developing a world-class smart city.

“The Lavasa project is now on the cusp of a remarkable resurgence. We shall execute the plan as per the schedule proposed to the CoC and are very eager to revitalise this ambitious venture,” he said.

Jain added that the wait is over and the ultra-modern, smart city, with several world-class amenities and attractions, will be fully ready in the next two-three years, and would serve as a model for future development.

Singh has assured that the needs of the home-buyers, the secured financial creditors and other stakeholders would be included and prioritised in the revival process.

The latest development caps a plea for Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, filed by the operational creditors with the NCLT in 2018, against the Lavasa Corporation under the IBC. After the CoC’s approval – reportedly with 97 per cent favouring DPGC, the bid awaited the nod of the NCLT which finally came on Friday.

Corporate circles said that the NCLT verdict may finally end the series of legal, environmental and other problems plaguing the planned modern hill-station of Lavasa, promoted by HCC Group’s Ajit Gulabchand and work on which started over 25 years ago.