The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has proposed major changes in the insolvency process to bring more discipline and transparency and to address issues that have come up in recent cases, the Times of India reported. The IBBI, which regulates both insolvency professionals and the process, has sought public views on amendments by September 17. A key development is the introduction of a code of conduct for the committee of creditors (CoC) proposed by a parliamentary standing committee headed by Jayant Sinha.

Fugitive Indian businessman Vijay Mallya has filed papers in the UK high court seeking permission to appeal against his bankruptcy order, the Times of India reported. Mallya was declared bankrupt by the insolvency and companies court (ICC) of the high court on July 26 this year. His name is now listed in the individual insolvency register. A spokesman for the chancery division of the high court told TOI that Mallya had on August 16 filed a notice seeking permission to appeal the decision of Chief ICC judge Briggs, who had declared him bankrupt.

The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced that she has asked state-run banks to step up lending and hold outreach programmes or loans melas across India from October to lend to desirable borrowers, in order to give momentum to the stimulus package. Sitharaman said that it was too early say that there is lack of credit demand in the economy, the Economic Times of India reported. “This year too sometime in October, there will be a credit outreach in every district of the country,” the finance minister said.

India plans to raise 6 trillion rupees ($81 billion) from selling state-owned infrastructure assets over next four years to help bolster the government’s finances and plug its budget deficit, Bloomberg News reported. The plan will include sale of road and railway assets, airports, power transmission lines and gas pipelines, said the people who asked not to be identified as they aren’t authorized to share the details. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to make the road-map public at 5 p.m. Monday.

A telecom carrier and a retailer are showing a mirror to India’s tryst with assisted corporate demise and rebirth, according to a Bloomberg News commentary. As the five-year-old bankruptcy experiment flounders, blame it on what development scholars refer to as “isomorphic mimicry”: Emerging economies ape the form of successful Western institutions but leave them dysfunctional and devoid of content, almost guaranteeing their failure, according to the commentary.

The pandemic has led to the International Finance Corporation massively ramping up its impact investment in India - its largest client nation globally - at USD 1.7 billion as of June, a 51 per cent rise over the past 12 months, the largest developmental lender into third world private sector said on Tuesday, the Economic Times of India reported. This is nearly half of its investment in the whole of South Asia since the pandemic, which touched USD 3.8 billion as of June 2021, it said.

The Reserve Bank of India relaxed a rule on bank’s purchases of foreign sovereign bonds, paving the way for lenders to resume a profitable currency trade, Bloomberg News reported. In a notice sent to some banks on Monday, the RBI said foreign sovereign bonds wouldn’t fall under a regulatory cap that requires holdings of securities unlisted in India to be 10% or less of the total non-statutory liquidity ratio portfolio, the people said, asking not to be identified as they aren’t authorized to speak to media. The RBI’s latest decision comes after banks made a representation seeking relaxation.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai on August 6 dismissed an application seeking the closure of Rolta India’s Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the Times of India reported. A consortium of lenders to Rolta represented by advocates Rohit Gupta and Nausher Kohli had opposed a plea for closure of the process, saying that they have an outstanding of around Rs 5,400 Crores.

There are seven bidders, including a couple of Asset Reconstruction Companies who have expressed preliminary interest to take over the beleaguered eye care chain Vasan Eye, the Times of India reported. The last date for submission of early interest ended July 19. The NCLT appointed resolution professional had called for early interest for Vasan Eye Care. India’s largest eye care chain Dr Agarwal’s Eye and MGM Hospital’s promoter MK Rajagopalan, Dr GSK Velu’s MaxiVision are among the list of bidders. Dr Amar Agarwal and MK Rajagopalan did not wish to comment on the bid.