A real estate redevelopment project struck for about two decades in suburban Mumbai due to heavy debt, is heading for resolution with the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approving the resolution plan of Pune-based developer Mantra Properties & Developers Private Ltd. which will take over the project and complete the unfinished task.
On August 26, NCLT Mumbai bench of Justice Lakshmi Gurung and Hariharan Neelakanta Iyer, Technical Member passed the order accepting Mantra’s Resolution Plan.
Acme Realties had initially taken up the redevelopment of MHADA colony but couldn’t complete the project and was laden with a debt of over ₹4,326 crore, leaving several hundred home buyers and old occupants in the lurch.
Mantra Properties should now complete the project spread over 8.5 acre in Jogeshwari East.
The MHADA colony had 576 houses under the name Majaswadi Sarvodayanagar Co-operative Housing Society. In 2008, the residents decided to undertake the redevelopment of the colony, as a composite redevelopment scheme, as per the filings.
They had appointed Acme Realities Pvt. Ltd. to execute the project. The project involved rehousing all the 576 families and using the remaining land parcel for constructing towers which could be sold to any new home buyer.
Acme started construction of three towers for 171 of the 576 original occupants and also launched two sale towers. They sold houses to 350 home buyers in the two towers according to the filings.
To finance the scheme, they had raised substantial funds, which by the time the matter came to NCLT had reached ₹4,326.72 crore including interest.
This included ₹1,155.07 crore owed to Vistra ITCL (India) Ltd, as trustee to HDFC Capital Affordable Real Estate Fund-I, ₹2,645.99 crore to HDFC Bank Ltd. and ₹525.64 taken from home buyers for sale of apartments in the two towers.
When Acme could not complete the project, homebuyers moved NCLT in the capacity of financial creditors and filed an application under Section 7 of the Code.
NCLT appointed a resolution professional and invited developed to submit resolution plans.
Of the 14 who showed interest, five developers submitted their plans. After several rounds of meetings with the committee of creditors, Mantra Properties submitted it’s revised proposal.
Eventually, Mantra succeeded with the homebuyers and original occupants of the MHADA colony giving the developer unanimous support. The committee of creditors also voted for Mantra, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mantra had submitted a ₹614-crore resolution plan. This included completing the two towers with apartments for sale to homebuyers and handing over possession to them within 18 months.
Of the 576 original occupants of the colony, while 171 had moved into their homes built by Acme, 92 are still on the plot with their homes yet to be demolished and 300 odd have been relocated elsewhere but not received their homes in the new scheme, the people said.
Now, Mantra needs to pay unpaid rent to 300-odd families who had been relocated and finish their homes within 42 months as per the approved resolution plan.
As many as 92 occupants who are still having houses on the plot must vacate and the redeveloper will pay them rent and eventually construct the houses. To ensure smooth handover, Mantra has already settled with the original occupants of the colony, the people said.
Once the entire resettlement and handing over of two towers with apartments for sale to existing homebuyers is complete, Mantra will be left with close to six acre of land which it would commercially exploit.
“We are looking forward to completing the project, which has been stuck for close to two decades. We are focussed on fulfilling the dreams of those who have to be rehoused, as well as those who bought homes in the new project,” said Rohit Gupta, CEO, Mantra Properties.
“Once we have honoured the commitments made to old occupants and homebuyers, we will build a marquee housing project. We don’t just build homes but transform the localities into the most liveable and joyous places to be in,” he added.
Mantra Properties over the past 18 years has completed 16 large projects spanning over 70 lakh square feet in Pune and so far, sold close to 7,500 plus home buyers. With a land bank of around 500 acre, it is currently developing eight projects.
Published – August 29, 2025 09:27 pm IST