DMRC says it has only Rs 6,200 cr, not enough to pay off DAMEPL

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it only has Rs 6,200 crore in its accounts which would not be enough to pay the Rs 7,200 crore it owes to the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL).
 
DMRC made the submission in a fresh affidavit filed with the court after the Reliance Infrastructure subsidiary filed a contempt plea against it. DMRC said the amount of Rs 6,200 crore, which it has, also includes security amount and employee provident fund, among others.
 
Earlier, in an affidavit filed on January 5, DMRC had said that it only has Rs 1,600 crore and doesn't have funds to pay DAMEPL.
 
In May 2017, an arbitral tribunal had ruled in favour of DAMEPL, which had pulled out from running the Airport Express metro line over safety issues, and accepted its claim that running operations on the line was not viable due to structural defects in the viaduct through which the train would run.
 
On December 22, Justice Suresh Kait had directed DMRC to file an affidavit furnishing the details of its bank accounts along with the balance amount.
 
The judge had observed that while the attachment of DMRC's properties was not permitted under Section 89 of The Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, there was no such embargo with respect to its bank accounts.

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DMRC had earlier told the court that it would deposit Rs 1,000 crore in favour of DAMEPL in an escrow account and suggested taking over the debt of the Reliance Infrastructure subsidiary to the extent of the award money, saying that it would be a better position to negotiate with the lender banks.
 
The offer was, however, turned down by DAMEPL, and the court had observed that if the decree holder did not want to accept the proposal, it could not be forced to do so.
 
The award pertains to a concession agreement signed between the two entities on August 25, 2008.
 
Under the agreement, DMRC was to carry out civil works, excluding at the depot, and the balance, including the project system works, were to be executed by DAMEPL, a joint venture of Reliance Infrastructure and Spanish construction company -- Construcciones Y Auxiliar De Ferrocarriles, with a shareholding of 95 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.
 
The Airport Express line was commissioned on February 23, 2011, after an investment of over Rs 2,885 crore, funded by the DAMEPL promoters' fund, banks, and financial institutions.
 
(With inputs from Aneesha Mathur and PTI)

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