On the day the deadline to submit bids to acquire his bankrupt firm was to end, Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoter Kapil Wadhawan made an offer to settle all claims against the company.

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In a nine-page letter addressed to the administrator of DHFL R Subramaniakumar dated October 17, Wadhawan proposed that he transfer the rights, title and interest in the firm's projects to himself to ensure "maximum value" to stakeholders. He claimed that the total profit from 10 of DHFL's projects is pegged at an estimated Rs 43,897 crore, and not the suppressed value "outside forces" are trying to project.

Wadhawan claimed that even these valuations done by "internationally acclaimed external valuers" was conservative and lower than the actual market value. Some of these properties include the Juhu Gallo project with a revenue potential of Rs 32,000 crore and another project in Irla, with potential revenue of Rs 4,400 crore. Wadhwan has urged Subramaniakumar to conduct an independent valuation of these properties to ascertain their value.

These projects, he claimed, would be the key to resolving the existing issues and enabling a successful resolution. At the stage of the development plan, even with the 15 percent development fee being charged by reputed developers and conservative cash flow estimates, Wadhawan claimed that all the lenders of DHFL could be repaid without any haircut on the principal amount.

Senior banking executives with large exposure to DHFL said that the letter was not addressed to them, but they had heard of the contents from the administrator. Some opined that Wadhawan, currently facing allegations of serious fraud cannot be given control of the firm, and accepting his proposal would be a violation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which prohibits defaulters from participating in the resolution plan under Section 29A.

CNBC-TV18 reported earlier that four suitors had submitted bids to acquire DHFL, with US-based distressed asset fund Oaktree Capital offering to acquire the entire portfolio for Rs 28,000 crore, leading to a 30 percent plus recovery for the financial creditors who have made claims of over Rs 87,000 crore against the firm under IBC.