Developers Turn to IBC for Prime Urban Land Acquisitions
As the availability of fresh land tightens and competition intensifies across India’s major metropolitan markets, strategic buyers are increasingly leveraging the corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to access urban real estate assets.
The framework is playing a growing role in facilitating ownership transitions and land consolidation in supply-constrained cities. This shift has been reflected in a series of recent orders by bankruptcy tribunals across the country.
Data from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India show that 8,659 companies had entered insolvency proceedings by the end of September, of which about 1,905 were real estate companies. Around 1,472 of these have received resolution plans from bidders, highlighting the expanding role of the bankruptcy framework in India’s property market.
For buyers evaluating large urban parcels, insolvency-led transactions offer far greater certainty on title, approvals, and timelines than conventional land deals. Once a resolution plan is approved, execution risks reduce materially, which is why serious developers are willing to underwrite large cheques at this stage rather than chase fragmented land assemblies, according to Sanjay Daga, MD & CEO of Anex Advisory.
Projects acquired through the insolvency process come with no past or hidden liabilities, offering absolute clarity, Daga added. Ajay Khatlawala, senior partner at law firm Little & Co, said assets with all regulatory approvals in established locations are seeing strong demand at a time when the sector is witnessing an unprecedented pickup in activity. Developers are attracted to such assets as the resolution process delivers “clean” ownership, free of legacy liabilities and often at competitive valuations.
Large conglomerates have also used the insolvency resolution mechanism to build sizeable land banks. In November, Adani Enterprises received the lenders' nod to acquire Jaiprakash Associates through the resolution process under a plan valued at over Rs 14,500 crore, giving the group access to 3,985 acres of land across Noida and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
In July, the group acquired two assets of the defunct developer Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd, including a commercial property in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex and a land parcel at Kalyan Shahad on the city’s outskirts.
Mumbai has seen a steady flow of similar transactions. In April, the tribunal approved Shree Naman Developers’ acquisition of Neptune Developers, which had admitted liabilities of about Rs 2,119 crore. The resolution plan proposed a payment of Rs 390 crore for the company’s revival.
In August, secured lenders approved a consortium led by Oberoi Realty, along with Shree Naman Developers and JM Financial Properties, to acquire Hotel Horizon, whose principal asset is a 1.85-acre land parcel in Mumbai’s prime Juhu locality overlooking the Arabian Sea.
In August 2024, the tribunal approved Oberoi Realty affiliate Oberoi Constructions’ resolution plan to acquire Nirmal Lifestyle Realty, laying out a comprehensive restructuring under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The plan involved payments of around Rs 273 crore to financial, operational, and other creditors, against claims exceeding Rs 748 crore. The company had entered insolvency proceedings in December 2021.
Other transactions include Macrotech Developers’ acquisition of V Hotels, owner of Tulip Star, earlier known as the Centaur Hotel, which sits on a 6.1-acre parcel on Juhu Tara Road in Mumbai’s western suburb of Vile Parle. Meerut-based Raghupati Construction was also acquired by NASA Consortium.
These transactions highlight the growing trend of developers using the IBC to secure prime urban land, offering a more efficient and risk-reduced path to land acquisition in a competitive market.
