With the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) initiating insolvency proceedings against Noida-based Ananda Divine Developers, an ATS Group company led by Getamber Anand, homebuyers face uncertainty over defaults by the developer.ATS Infrastructure
The proceedings were initiated last month after ICICI Prudential Venture made a plea to the New Delhi-based bench of the NCLT for claiming unpaid dues of around Rs 25 crore.
However, the company got a minor relief with the NCLAT directing ICICI Prudential to file a rejoinder within two weeks and put a stay till the next hearing on May 11.
Reacting to the bankruptcy, ATS Infrastructure CMD Getamber Anand said: “We have received a copy of the order and we are in the middle of studying the same. However, the amount under consideration is a very small sum, and the related project is completed and handed over.”
“This will have no bearing on our other projects. Meanwhile, we have mutually closed this dispute or matter with ICICI Pru and will be filing a settlement soon,” he said.
Troubled Waters
These amounts may seem less to the company, which is one of the notable real estate firms based out of the national capital. In 2016, ATS claimed to have a total turnover of Rs 1,700 crore, with a projected turnover of Rs 2,500 crore for that current fiscal. Its gross profit was at 20 per cent of the turnover. The group has a large number of projects in Mohali, Chandigarh, Dehradun and Ahmedabad.
ATS also had a Rs 2,000 crore project in Mohali in 2013.
It was on heights when the realty firm sold 975 flats worth Rs 1,000 crore in three months in 2018.
HDFC had invested Rs 200 crore in one of its projects in New Delhi in 2011.
As various developers in the sector, who are having over decades of experience, shattered the walls of trust, ATS is standing tall with over 34 years of experience.
But, a series of financial doldrums ‘unaffected’ or ‘not reported’ can be tracked in the earlier transactions of the company.
Recently, there were reports alleging ‘outside settlement’ of Rs 190 crore liability towards L&T Finance in connection with Almond Infrabuild Private Limited, one of the group companies of ATS.
In December 2020, the company received a notice from Xander Finance Pvt Ltd, in a loan matter, for insolvency resolution process as the personal guarantor to a loan provided by Xander Finance to ATS Infrastructure.
ATS Infrastructure Limited was founded in 1998 by Getamber Anand, Ashwani Talwar and Anil Kumar Saha.
In 2018, there was another legal battle against Anand by Anil Kumar Saha in connection with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
In the verdict, the arbitral tribunal constituted by Justice Mukandkam Sharma directed ATS Group to pay Rs 110 crore along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from May 31, 2018 till the date of the award within a period of 120 days to Saha.
The brand Getamber Anand
An aeronautical engineer turned first-generation developer, Anand started his real estate company in 1989 at the age of 27 by building trust and goodwill.
In 2015, he was appointed president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), the apex body of private real estate developers in India.
Anand had, in 2013, served as the vice president of CREDAI before being elected unopposed as the president.
He came up with a strategy in 2019, just ahead of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, joining with Logix Group to complete three of the pending projects in Noida.
It was aiming to deliver 4,500 apartments through the projects on time at a cost of Rs 400 crore.
