India

India’s central bank is intervening in all foreign-exchange markets and will continue to do so to protect the rupee that slid to a record low Monday, Bloomberg News reported. The Reserve Bank of India sees its foreign-currency reserves of about $600 billion as a formidable stockpile that it will put to use against speculators. The RBI is seeking an orderly depreciation. The rupee dropped as much as 0.8% to an unprecedented 77.53 a dollar on Monday, as foreigners continue to pull money from Indian stocks.

Debt-ridden Future Group firm Future Enterprises Ltd expects to raise around Rs 3,000 crore from selling its stake in the insurance business to pare debt, which may save the company from facing the rigour of the insolvency process, the Economic Times of India reported. Earlier on Thursday, Future Enterprises Ltd completed the sale of its 25 percent equity in Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd to joint venture partner Generali for Rs 1,266.07 crore. After this transaction, FEL will directly and indirectly continue to hold 24.91 per cent shares in FGIICL.

India's central bank is expected to frontload more aggressive interest rate hikes in its effort to tame high inflation, at least until its repo rate hits its pre-COVID level of 5.15%, economists said after a long-anticipated rate hike on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Most economists are now forecasting a cumulative 125-150 basis points of rate hikes over the next 12 months, compared with about 50 basis points expected three months ago, on the grounds that inflation could remain around 7% for at least three months more due to soaring global energy, food, and manufacturing prices.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai has been approached by Bank of India in the case regarding Future Retail Limited as they want to initiate the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), India Legal reported. The bench of Justice P.N. Deshmukh and technical member S.B. Vohra have issued notice to Future Retail. They have given the company time to file their response.

Lenders weigh legal action over takeover of 947 Future Retail store by Reliance Lenders will soon initiate insolvency proceedings against Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL), the linchpin company of Future Group, which manufactures, designs, procures and distributes fashion apparel for the group companies, the Economic Times of India reported. The collapse of the Rs 24712 crore deal with Reliance Industries and defaults on a series of payments to lenders in the last week of March as per the terms of one-time restructuring (OTR) prompted lenders to pursue insolvency proceedings.

Private sector lender Yes Bank Ltd has moved National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking initiation of insolvency proceedings against Zee Learn, according to a regulatory filing, the Economic Times of India reported. The company said that Yes Bank Ltd has allegedly claimed that the total amount in default with respect to a financial facility is Rs 468 crore. Zee Learn has received a notice from the Mumbai bench of the NCLT over Yes Bank's petition and is in the process of compiling information to verify the facts, the filing said on Monday.

India's top retailer Reliance on Saturday called off its $3.4 billion deal with Future Group, saying it "cannot be implemented" after Future's secured creditors rejected it, Reuters reported. The deal was at the centre of legal battles since 2020 after Future's partner Amazon.com Inc legally blocked it, citing violation of certain contracts. Future denied any wrongdoing. In a stock exchange filing on Saturday, Reliance said the deal now cannot go through as "the secured creditors of FRL (Future Retail) have voted against" it.

Debt-ridden Supertech Ltd, which is facing insolvency proceedings, should come up with a settlement plan that entails "definite upfront payment" of dues, according to one of its lender Union Bank of India, the Economic Times of India reported. The bank on whose application the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) decided to initiate insolvency resolution proceedings against Supertech Ltd has made the submissions before appellate tribunal NCLAT.

Differing views between two departments of the Indian government have turned one of the biggest sales of steel mills under the reformed bankruptcy law into a litigation worth $6.3 billion and delayed the entire process. “You purchased a litigation that costs 480 billion rupees,” India’s Chief Justice N.V. Ramana told the lawyer for tycoon Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel Ltd.. The top court gave another week to government’s lawyer to sort out the differences between the country’s anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate and corporate affairs ministry.