Jaypee Group defaults on Rs4,460-cr debt payments

Cash-strapped Jaypee Group companies have defaulted on loans, including principal and interest payments totalling Rs4,460 croe at the end of March 2016, reflecting the substantial stress, its auditor said.

Jayprakash Associates' (JAL's) interest and principal repayments were overdue for up to 269 days (almost nine months), auditor MP Singh & Associates noted in its report that came with the company's annual results announced late last month.

The Rs20,000-cr group has on a consolidated basis failed to repay Rs2,905.6 crore in principal amount to banks and another Rs1,558.93 crore crore in interest payments.

"Overdue principal repayment of loans borrowings ... outstanding on March 31, 2016 wherein the period of delay ranges from 1 day to 269 days" include debt of Rs2,183.17 crore on Jaiprakash Associates, Rs688.48 crore on Jaiprakash Power Ventures and Rs33.95 crore on Jaypee Cement, as per latest disclosures.

Jaypee group's overdue interest on borrowings includes Rs837.45 crore on Jaiprakash Associates, Rs152.18 crore on Jaiprakash Power Ventures and Rs63.13 crore on Jaypee Cement Corporation, according to figures disclosed by Jaiprakash Associates to the exchanges.

Besides overdue interest included Rs193.08 crore on Jaypee Infratech, Rs3.01 crore on Jaypee Agra Vikas Ltd, Rs308.66 crore on Prayagraj Power Generation Ltd, Rs0.75 lakh on Madhya Pradesh Jaypee Minerals Ltd and Rs0.67 lakh on Bhilai Jaypee Cement.

Jaiprakash Associates, the group's flagship company, saw its net loss widen to Rs3,345 crore in the last fiscal on a consolidated basis. In 2014-15, the same stood at Rs1,735.10 crore.

Earlier this year, in one of the biggest deals in the domestic cement industry, debt-ridden Jaypee Group had announced part sale of its cement business to Kumarmangalam Birla-led Ultratech for Rs15,900 crore.

The transaction will see Ultratech become possibly the biggest cement player in the country – with total capacity of 91.1 MTPA, including its overseas operations - after gaining an overall capacity of 21.2 million tonne per annum from Jaypee's cement plants in five states and a grinding unit in Uttar Pradesh.

Another group's firm, Jaiprakash Power, had earlier sold off its hydro power projects to JSW Energy for Rs9,300 crore and Bina power project to JSW for Rs3,500 crore.

Jaypee Group, which has business interests in engineering and construction, cement, power, real estate, expressways, fertilizer, hospitality, healthcare, sports, information technology and education, has been battling poor finances and has been forced to sell several of its assets to overcome overdue debt.