India

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed an appeal by Siemens Ltd against the invocation of its bank guarantees by Meenakshi Energy. Meenakshi Energy Ltd (MEL) which is presently facing insolvency proceedings, was setting up a 700 MW thermal plant, in which Siemens was a sub-contractor for the project, the Economic Times of India reported.

Regulatory agency Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has allowed splitting of companies to attract more participants into the corporate resolution process as it seeks to provide flexibility and increase realisation, the Economic Times of India reported. The move to split assets is seen to be beneficial in cases involving real estate players and other entities with multiple projects, all of which may not be viable, or there may be some assets which will generate higher value, a senior government official said.

Lenders of Future Enterprises have appointed forensic auditor J C Kabra & Associates, in line with a finance ministry mandate to audit non-performing loan accounts with over Rs 50 crore exposure, the Economic Times of India reported. Central Bank of India, the lead bank for Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Enterprises, appointed the forensic auditor on September 12, according to a stock exchange filing by the company late Monday evening. The troubled retailer, which defaulted on its loans, has outstanding loans of Rs 6,700 crore, said a lender.

According to research, insolvency case recoveries increased slightly from 26% in Q1 of the previous fiscal to 30.6% in Q1 of the current fiscal, although the number of insolvency cases filed/admitted increased by 23.5% during this time, India Infoline News Service reported. The total amount of financial creditors' acknowledged claims increased from Rs6,84,901.3 crore in March 2022 to Rs7,67,384.9 crore in June 2022, although the liquidation value of these cases remained essentially the same at Rs1,31,447.9 crore and Rs1,31,468.6 crore, respectively.

State-owned Central Bank of India has opened a new front to recover dues from the Biyanis, promoters of the debt laden retail conglomerate Future Group that is facing bankruptcy proceedings, the Economic Times of India reported. The bank has filed a personal insolvency case against promoter Kishore Biyani, his elder brother Vijay Biyani and cousin Sunil Biyani with total claims of Rs 1,047 crore. The claims were filed in the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) a few days ago and are yet to be admitted by the court, documents seen by ET show.

Lenders to Reliance Capital (RCap) received 14 resolution plans on Monday as part of the Anil Ambani-founded holding company's insolvency proceedings. A Piramal Group-led consortium, Oaktree Capital, Torrent Investments, IndusInd International and Cosmea Financial Services are among bidders who have either offered to acquire the entire company or submitted plans for select clusters, the Economic Times of India reported. Advent International and Zurich Insurance have bid for 100% stake in Reliance General Insurance (RGI), the people said.

Union Bank of India (UBI), the second largest creditor to KSK Mahanadi Power, has put its ₹2,077 crore outstanding loan to the company on the block, according to an auction notice seen by the Economic Times of India. Other lenders including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Axis Bank have already sold their debt in the company that owns a 3,600-mw power plant and has been under a prolonged insolvency process. UBI has set a reserve price of ₹919 crore in cash for its exposure.

Debt-ridden Future Enterprises is now facing a second insolvency plea filed by an operational creditor before National Company Law Tribunal, the Economic Times of India reported. The latest petition was filed by Retail Detailz India, claiming default of Rs 4.02 crore before the Mumbai bench of the NCLT. "The Company has received e-filing confirmation from NCLT with respect to the filing of an application by an Operational Creditor Retail Detailz India Private under section 9 of the IBC for an alleged default amount of Rs 4.02 crore," Future Enterprises said in a filing.

Financial creditors to Future Retail have put in claims for Rs 21,058 crore, while operational creditors have sought another Rs 265 crore. Besides these, there are employee dues of Rs 9.8 crore and Rs 1.1 crore claims from other creditors, the Financial Times of India reported. Bank of India had initiated bankruptcy proceedings against Future Retail following the company's failure to repay creditors after lenders rejected a restructuring proposal where Reliance Group would take over the retail giant.

Bengaluru, India-based ShopX has decided to ‘wind down its operations’ and has filed an application for insolvency and bankruptcy under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (IBC) code, 2016, the company said in a Ministry of Corporate (MCA) filing, VCCircle.com reported. The Nandan Nilekani-backed startup said that it defaulted on repayment of interest on loans due to the insufficiency of funds. The company said it took multiple loans from its investors including Nilekani and its Singapore-based backer Fung Investment, without sharing details about the figures.