GIFT City Co, which is implementing the GIFT City project in Gandhinagar, is a 50:50 joint venture between IL&FS and the state government-owned Gujarat Urban Development Co (GUDC). The project houses the country’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Of the 880 acres over which the GIFT City project has been envisaged, about 250 acres is earmarked for IFSC.

On October 2 last year, the central government superseded the board of debt-laden IL&FS by appointing a new six-member one chaired by Kotak Mahindra Bank MD Uday Kotak. The government’s decision was based on a report received from the regional director, Mumbai, corporate affairs ministry. It concluded that the affairs of the IL&FS holding company and its group companies were being conducted in a manner prejudicial to public interest. 

The group has a total debt of about Rs 91,000 crore and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had proposed a moratorium of 90 days on loans taken by IL&FS and its 348 subsidiaries in October. On February 11, the tribunal directed 22 Indian subsidiaries of IL&FS to service their debt obligations according to schedule. NCLAT also lifted the debt moratorium on 133 foreign group entities of IL&FS to enable them to continue the resolution process. 

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