IL&FS lays out road map to address over Rs 57,000 cr of debt

Mumbai: Cash-strapped Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) Group on Monday said it expects to address over Rs 57,000 crore of debt, which is above 50 per cent of its overall debt of Rs 99,000 crore.

Of this, the group estimates to address close to Rs 50,500 crore of its debt by March 2021 and an additional debt of Rs 6,600 crore beyond FY21. However, it did not give any timeline for addressing the additional debt of Rs 6,600 crore.

Speaking about the new plan to address the debt, the group's non-executive chairman Uday Kotak said, "We are putting out transparently things that we see today and our reasonable estimate of how things look as we go forward. We are committed to this road map and we will go all out as IL&FS board and management to make it happen."

Till June 30, 2020, the debt-laden company has addressed debt of Rs 17,640 crore from a combination of completed asset sales, debt repayment to green entities, debt discharged in non-green entities and available cash balance across the group.

The new board shared a quarterly plan that estimates addressing additional debt of Rs 8,800 crore by second quarter of FY21; Rs 18,000 crore by the third quarter of FY21 and over Rs 6,000 crore by the end of fourth quarter of FY21 -? aggregating to Rs 50,500 crore by end-FY21.

It further said efforts towards resolution of additional debt of Rs 6,600 crore are likely to continue beyond FY21, as the board expects the resolution of major holding companies to take a longer time.

The group has proposed to set up one of the country's largest InvITs with a target gross value of Rs 13,000 crore. It includes three special purpose vehicles (SPVs) where debt of Rs 5,000 crore has been restructured.

The group is in an advanced stage of concluding the sale process of 15 entities with resolution of nearly Rs 8,500 crore and plans restructuring additional debt of Rs 4,900 crore.

Kotak said the group is facing challenges in recovery in its non-banking finance company ? IL&FS Financial Service (IFIN), where loans were given to large companies that are themselves in deep trouble.

"We have virtually got zero recoveries on some of those large loans. Some of them are in excess of Rs 1,000 crore or higher," he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has in some ways delayed the progress in resolution of the group's assets, he said adding, "But we are chugging along. We are not giving up and I believe that the whole road map put out by IL&FS management and board is something we are deeply committed to."

The IL&FS board has developed a group resolution framework that received NCLAT approval on March 12, 2020.

The government had, in October 2018, seized control of the debt-strapped group and superseded its board with one led by Kotak.