The ₹870-crore assets created by the debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) in public-private partnership (PPP) mode in the State are for sale with the IL&FS board deciding to publicly solicit expressions of interest (EoI).
The ₹480-crore Thiruvananthapuram City Road Improvement Project (TCRIP) and the ₹390-crore Sports Hub at Karyavattom along National Highway 66 here are up for sale.
₹91,000-crore debts
Confirming the sale, project officials told The Hindu that the decision was based on the approval given by the board to initiate divestment of the group’s equity stakes in road assets or businesses to repay debts of ₹91,000 crore.
Both the projects had been commissioned and the payment of annuity, including the cost of construction, interest, and 15-year maintenance cost, will end in 2031 for the TCRIP and in 2028 for the Sports Hub that houses the Greenfield stadium.
The annuity payments had been delayed and the government owes ₹21 crore to Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Limited (TRDCL), the special purpose vehicle (SPV) created for executing the TCRIP. The payments were reportedly delayed by the government for over a year citing poor upkeep of the road corridors.
The TRDCL had contested this and had blamed the Kerala Road Fund Board under the Public Works Department for the damage to the roads. There is no pending annuity payment to Karyavattom Sports Facilities Ltd (KSFL), the SPV for the Sports Hub.
The TCRIP, under which 43.26 km of roads was developed in the capital, which is being replicated in other districts in partnership with the State government, is one of the eight operating annuity-based road projects in the country.
The firm had spent ₹475 crore for the road project. The government had paid ₹225 crore as annuity and interest and another ₹125 crore as arbitration award till date. Project officials say uncertainty prevails over payment of the remaining ₹125 crore.
Uncertainty
The fate of the proposed ₹3,000-crore Capital Region Development Programme II hangs in balance. The IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation, one of the 24 direct subsidiaries and 135 indirect arms of the holding company IL&FS, was Transactional Adviser (TA) of the Capital Region Development Programme II awaiting the government nod for take off.
