Authorities in India believe that a new breed of lender, its technique sharpened in China, has been preying on working-class and rural people who have been devastated by the impact of the coronavirus on the Indian economy, the New York Times reported. These lenders don’t require credit scores or visits to a bank. But they charge high costs over a brief period. They also require access to a borrower’s phone, siphoning up contacts, photos, text messages, even battery percentage.
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The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a bank can initiate proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) against a corporate guarantor if the principal borrower defaults on repayment of loans and the debt is declared nonperforming asset (NPA), the Times of India reported.
India’s government is considering resuming fresh bankruptcy filings after the current suspension expires on March 25, the Economic Times of India reported. The lifting of the halt would come even as a resurgence in virus cases threatens the nascent economic recovery. It could spark a wave of new insolvencies, pent up from last year when businesses were hurt by India’s first economic contraction in decades. India’s government is considering resuming fresh bankruptcy filings after the current suspension expires on March 25.
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Prestige Estates Projects Ltd. will take over a Mumbai housing project from bankrupt Ariisto Developers Pvt. following a court decision on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. The Bengaluru-based developer plans to launch the first phase of the project by May and second phase toward the end of the year, Prestige’s Chief Executive Officer Venkat K. Narayana said by phone on Wednesday. He estimates revenues of more than 100 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) from the 7.5 million square feet under development. “This will be our largest project in Mumbai,” Narayana said.
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India’s Supreme Court allowed lenders to resume classifying delinquent debt as bad loans, reversing a ruling that delayed disclosure of soured credit in an economy already saddled with stressed assets, Bloomberg News reported. A three-judge panel headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan delivered the verdict on Tuesday, supporting a request from the federal government and central bank, which had sought to overturn a September order that barred the categorization of loans as non-performing.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year pushed through new laws that would reduce the government’s role in agriculture, aimed at fixing a system that has led to huge rice surpluses in a country that still grapples with malnutrition, the New York Times reported. But the laws would reduce the role of government-run markets for grain, which the farmers fear would eventually undermine the price subsidies that make their work possible. If that happens, the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on the land could be in jeopardy.
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An Indian court put on hold on Monday an order restraining Future Group chief Kishore Biyani from selling personal assets, amid legal challenges to the group’s $3.4-billion retail deal, Reuters reported. The legal fight over Future’s assets has embroiled two of the world’s richest men, Jeff Bezos of U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc and Mukesh Ambani of Indian congolomerate Reliance Industries. In various Indian courts, including the Supreme Court, Amazon has accused Future of violating certain contracts by agreeing to sell its retail assets to Reliance.
Thirty-four creditors of Greensill Capital Pty, the Australian parent of the collapsed British supply chain financier, submitted over A$1.75 billion ($1.35 billion) in claims to the company, administrators said on Friday, Reuters reported. About $1.15 billion of that was made by Japan’s Softbank Group, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. The source declined to be identified as the person was not permitted to speak publicly.
India’s rupee is the only currency in Asia to strengthen amid this month’s rout in risk assets, thanks to a spree of share-sale offers that are luring foreign investors, Bloomberg News reported. The rupee has advanced 1.3% in March, boosted by $2.9 billion of overseas purchases of local stocks, including inflows related to initial public offerings. Nine share-sale offers worth about 59 billion rupees ($813 million) this month would have added to one of the highest inflows into emerging Asia, according to Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd.
A key transit project on the India-Myanmar border, Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport (KMTT), has been delayed due to bankruptcy and ongoing insolvency proceedings against one of the contractors before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the Union home ministry informed a parliamentary panel, the Economic Times reported. The project is considered crucial for improving connectivity.
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