By: Aswathy Nair
IN a major set back for Anil Ambani, younger brother of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, Yes Bank has taken over the headquarters of his group and two flats in Mumbai for non-payment of dues worth Rs 28,920 million (£ 296 million).
Yes Bank on Wednesday (29) said that it sought to recover dues from Reliance Infrastructure on May 6 and took possession of the three properties on July 22.
The bank, in an advertisement, cautioned the public not to deal with the properties.
In 2019, Anil Ambani group tried to lease out the headquarters, which has a space of 21,432 square metres, to pay back dues.
The flats- 1,717 sqft and 4,936 sqft-are spread over two different floors in South Mumbai’s Nagin Mahal. Dealing with the group had led to piling up of bad debt in Yes Bank, which ultimately led to its collapse.
Later, the bank was bailed out by a SBI-led consortium for Rs 100 billion (£1 billion).
Last month, Anil Ambani claimed that Reliance Infrastructure, which has loans outstanding of Rs 60 billion (£0.61 billion), will be completely debt-free this fiscal.
In 2018, the company sold its Mumbai energy business to Adani Transmission for nearly Rs 188 billion (£1.9 billion), which helped reduce the debt to nearly Rs 75 billion (£0.77 billion).
