McLeod Russel Agrees to Sell Fourth Assam Estate for Rs 26.16 Crore
The Corramore garden in Udalguri goes to Krishnabehari Tea Co for Rs 26.16 crore, taking the four estates McLeod Russel has moved to sell under its NARCL restructuring to Rs 115.01 crore.
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McLeod Russel has agreed to sell a fourth Assam tea estate, Corramore, to Krishnabehari Tea Co Ltd for Rs 26.16 crore, part of its restructuring with the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL).
The company's Board Tea Estates Committee signed the memorandum of understanding on August 6 for the garden, in Udalguri district, at a price of about US$3.0 million at roughly Rs 87.5 to the US dollar. A definitive agreement is expected by October 31, 2026, and the sale requires shareholder approval under Regulation 37A of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) listing regulations and Section 180(1)(a) of the Companies Act. The buyer is not part of the promoter group.
McLeod Russel said the transaction is structured for part-payment of debt under the sanction letter from NARCL, which is administered through India Debt Resolution Company Limited. NARCL's restructuring terms, reported previously, set the company's sustainable debt at Rs 1,050 crore, due by February 2029, with a 10% equity stake through debt conversion and a pledge of promoter shares. NARCL separately withdrew an inherited insolvency case against the company at the NCLT's Kolkata bench in July, clearing the way for the restructuring to proceed through asset sales.
Corramore contributed Rs 1,744.25 lakhs, or Rs 17.44 crore (about US$2.0 million), to turnover in FY25-26, about 1.80% of total revenue, the company said. The sale price is roughly one and a half times that annual contribution, and the garden is a modest part of the business by that measure.
It is the fourth such disposal. McLeod Russel signed memoranda in April to sell Nya Gogra to Bengal Tea & Fabrics Limited for Rs 44.79 crore, Rupajuli to Khona Tea Estate LLP for Rs 16.76 crore, and Boroi to Jatinga Agro-Tech for Rs 27.30 crore. All three remain subject to due diligence and regulatory approval, and none has been reported as closed.
The four estates together come to Rs 115.01 crore (about US$13 million), or a little under 11% of the sustainable debt they are meant to help retire. The company's FY26 accounts carried an adverse audit opinion and a going-concern warning over roughly Rs 2,860.50 crore (about US$330 million) in inter-corporate deposits owed by its promoter group, some twenty-five times what the four gardens will raise. The estate sales buy time. They do not, by themselves, close the gap.
Sources: ScanX, McLeod Russel signs MoU to sell Corramore estate for ₹26.16 Cr, 2026-08-06; Whalesbook, McLeod Russel Secures Debt Deal with NARCL, NARCL Gets 10% Stake, 2026-04-10; Business Standard, McLeod Russel India to sell three Assam tea gardens to repay debt, 2026-04-29.