The creditors of Lavasa Corp, once promoted as India's first private hill town project, have established eligibility criteria for potential bidders. They are now seeking new expressions of interest (EOIs) and have set a requirement of Rs 1 billion in net worth along with a refundable deposit of Rs 2.5 million. This move comes as they attempt to find a buyer for the second time, after the previous effort was abandoned earlier in the year.

According to the minutes of a meeting held on September 17 by the Committee of Creditors (CoC), 77 per cent of lenders, led by Union Bank of India (UBI), agreed on these minimum criteria, which differ from the previous process that lacked any specific requirements to "maximise participation" from applicants.

In addition to these eligibility criteria, the lenders are looking to make further changes. It is anticipated that a new resolution professional (RP) will replace Shailesh Verma, and a new process advisor may be appointed instead of Deloitte, as both have been involved in what is considered a failed process in the past. A person familiar with the matter mentioned that a joint lenders' forum, convened by UBI, is likely to finalize the timelines and appoint a new RP as early as next week.

Lenders are aiming to avoid the issues that arose in the previous process. It has been generally agreed that a new Form G, inviting fresh applicants, will be issued, possibly in the first week of October. Additionally, the lenders are narrowing down their choices for the new RP, according to another person knowledgeable about the situation. Neither Verma nor UBI responded to requests for comment.

Union Bank holds 12% of the total dues, amounting to Rs 66.42 billion. Phoenix ARC is the second-largest creditor, with nearly 11% of the debt, which it acquired from L&T Finance before the plan was approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in July 2023. Another significant creditor is Arcil, which holds more than 10% of the debt. Bank of India and Axis Bank are also major creditors, each with over 8% of the total debt.

Earlier this month, after a year of hearings, the Mumbai bench of the NCLT allowed the revival of the insolvency process, permitting the CoC to exclude the period between July 13, 2021, and January 3, 2022, from the resolution timeline.