DHFL seeks a Rs 15,000-crore lifeline as resolution plan gets delayed

NEW DELHI: Troubled mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL) has sought Rs 15,000 crore from banks immediately to pay its retail customers and project developers, said sources.nnThe company last week submitted a draft resolution plan to lenders. “The money will be used to fund viable projects that are stuck due to lack of money,” said a source.nnA DHFL spokesperson said the company did not have any comment to offer apart from what it has informed the stock exchanges last week on the draft resolution plan.nnUnder the draft resolution plan, the company has asked for funds from banks or the National Housing Bank (NHB) for restarting retail funding which was stopped after liquidity crisis hit it last year. According to sources, the decision on any additional or the quantum of funding will be taken only after due deliberations by lenders.nnThe home financier, which has defaulted on payment to bondholders since June, owes an estimated Rs 90,000 crore to banks, the NHB and other creditors.nnLast month, lenders had signed an inter-creditor agreement (ICA), as mandated by the Reserve Bank in the new NPA resolution/recognition framework effective June 7.nnIn a filing to exchanges on August 8, the company said it may not be able to meet its financial obligations in the near future.nn”Given the ongoing discussions on the resolution plan with the lenders who have signed the ICA, we believe that our payment obligations falling due in the immediate future, may not be met as per their existing schedule,” the company informed the exchanges.nnIt has been facing liquidity issue since last September and has back paid Rs 41,000 crore of its financial obligations through a combination of securitization of assets and repayment collections since.nnThe Wadhawan family, who owns a little over 39 per cent, has been looking at various ways to come out of the stress which first came to light late last year following the IL&FS bankruptcy. These include selling stakes in group entities, including in the flagship to the extent of giving up half of their stake.nnDHFL has seen a rash of rating downgrades in June after it defaulted on Rs 1,150 crore to its bond-holders due on June 4. This led to a downgrade of its Rs 850-crore commercial papers to ‘default’ by three rating agencies.nnSource: Press Trust of India