New Delhi, March 16 The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has allowed Chronos Properties, backed by Brookfield, which is in the race to acquire the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) flagship Bandra Kurla Complex property, to replace its bank guarantee within a week, which expired this month.
A two-member NCLAT bench, comprising Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Member (Technical) Barun Mitra, has directed that the matter be listed for the next hearing on April 27.
"The counsel for the Appellant submits that, in accordance with the interim order, the Appellant (Chronos) has deposited a demand draft, whose validity expires on March 15, 2026. The Appellant seeks permission to replace the demand draft with another demand draft with a validity of at least six months," NCLAT noted in its order.
"The Appellant can file a fresh demand draft within a week," said NCLAT in its order passed on March 13, 2026.
Besides, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has directed that the interim order passed by it on December 5, where it had directed the debt-ridden IL&FS group not to create third-party rights on its headquarters until the appeal is finally decided, will "continue".
In January, Chronos Properties renewed a Rs 148 crore bank guarantee to remain in the race for IL&FS's Bandra Kurla Complex property.
On December 5, 2025, the NCLAT had directed Chronos Properties to renew its bank guarantee within a month to avoid disqualification as a bidder for IL&FS Financial Centre (IL&FS HQ) at BKC, Mumbai.
Brookfield had challenged the NCLT's recent order that upheld IL&FS's right to enhance the purchase consideration for the headquarters property under the contractual provisions of the LoI, in line with the value-maximisation principle underpinning the IL&FS resolution framework.
Chronos' original bid for the asset stood at Rs 1,080 crore, approved through IL&FS' four-tier resolution mechanism.
IL&FS subsequently revised the consideration to Rs 1,481 crore, citing provisions in the LoI that allow this, updated valuation reports, and its obligation to maximise value under the IL&FS Resolution Framework. The bank guarantee is in accordance with the revised valuation.
This was contested by Chronos before NCLT.
However, NCLT, while affirming IL&FS' contractual powers, held that Chronos' failure to renew the bank guarantee could not, by itself, lead to disqualification, and granted it time to submit a fresh bank guarantee equivalent to 10 per cent of the bid value with the tribunal registrar.
On December 1, NCLT dismissed the Rs 1,080-crore bid by Brookfield-backed Chronos Properties to acquire IL&FS' Bandra Kurla Complex property.