The beleaguered National Spot Exchange has received an offer from Ranjeev Aggarwal, ex-CFO of defaulting company PD Agroprocessors, to remit Rs 42.77 crore over eight instalments.
Aggarwal is currently director of Primezone Developers in which the three defaulters – PD Agro, Mohan India and Swastik Overseas – have invested Rs 42.77 crore in a project being developed at Karnal in Haryana.
Of the total amount invested in the real estate project, PD Agro contributed Rs 31.10 crore, while Mohan India and Swastik Overseas chipped in Rs 10 crore and Rs 1.67 crore respectively. NSEL received the first instalment of Rs 1 crore, as per the schedule, said the exchange in a release.
The third largest borrower on NSEL, PD Agro traded on behalf of Dunar Foods, Dulisons Cereals and Dulisons Foods and owes Rs 637.49 crore to the exchange. It has so far paid only managed Rs 7.06 crore.
UNCERTAINTY LOOMS Earlier, Mohan India has agreed to pay Rs 771 crore out of the Rs 922 crore it owes the exchange. It gave a cheque of Rs 11 crore as first instalment. Earlier this month, the company also filed the settlement signed with the exchange before the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Court, which is hearing the case between State of Maharashtra and borrowers on NSEL.
The exchange claims that it needs the commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission’s approval to utilise the money for settlement. However, authorities seem to have raised some pertinent questions on whether the short fall in settlement agreed between the defaulter and the exchange has investor approval.
“Do all the 13,500 investors agree to take a hair cut on their investment? With the credential of defaulters already in question, what happens if there is a default on the agreed settlement?” asked an official who is tasked with investigating the NSEL scam.
This development has cast a shadow on individual deals being negotiated by the exchange with the defaulters. NSEL promoter Jignesh Shah recently told Business Line that six more borrowers have come forward for a financial agreement with the exchange.