Tax havens could come in the way of cross-border insolvency laws, with Videocon Oil and Nirav Modi's Firestar International, two recent examples of Indian companies owning foreign assets that are undergoing insolvency proceedings in the country, demonstrating why this is so, said legal, insolvency and banking experts, the Economic Times of India reported. Videocon Oil has assets in Brazil and Indonesia, owned through intermediate companies located in jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Cayman Islands.

India’s central bank rejected bids for bonds at the weekly auction following a surge in yields spurred by the government’s record-borrowing program, Bloomberg News reported. The Reserve Bank of India didn’t accept any bids for the 2026 and 2035 bonds at Friday’s auction, as traders probably asked for higher yields. It sold only 105.3 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) of notes, compared with 240 billion rupees on offer, the RBI said in a statement.

Lenders to Future Retail, the company being fought over by Reliance Industries and Amazon.com Inc , have told India's Supreme Court that its assets should be put up for auction after it missed payments, Reuters reported. They also said they have started classifying loans to the country's second-largest retailer as non-performing and would have to make combined provisions of 80 billion-90 billion rupees ($1.1 billion-$1.2 billion) due to the non-payment.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday proposed faster resolution of bankrupt companies by paving the way for amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), seeking to make cross-border deals easier and speed up voluntary unwinding of defaulting borrowers, the Economic Times of India reported. “Necessary amendments in the Code will be carried out to enhance the efficacy of the resolution process and facilitate cross- border insolvency resolution,” Sitharaman said.

India’s record borrowing plan prevents Fitch Ratings from reverting to a stable outlook from negative, keeping alive the possibility of a sovereign downgrade to so-called junk status over the coming year, Bloomberg News reported. The nation has the highest general government debt ratio among peers rated BBB-, Fitch said in a statement a day after India pledged to double down on debt-fueled spending. Active steps to reduce debt is key to revising the outlook, Fitch said.

India doubled down on its spending commitment, relying on an already swamped debt market to borrow and spend big to spur growth, Bloomberg News reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration will target a budget deficit of 6.4% of gross domestic product for the year starting April 1 -- wider than the median 6.1% seen in a Bloomberg survey -- as it prioritizes growth over fiscal consolidation.

The appellate tribunal has upheld an order passed by the Chennai bankruptcy court to liquidate Siva Industries and Holdings while rejecting a settlement proposal endorsed by a majority of the lenders, the Economic Times of India reported. In a judgment dated January 28, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) ordered liquidation stating that the plan was submitted to the tribunal after 330 days, which is the maximum time permitted to resolve a case under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) failing which the company has to be liquidated.

Facing heat from banks for recovery of outstanding dues, Future Retail on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of lenders' letters threatening initiation of insolvency proceedings by citing its still alive, but mired in cross-country litigations initiated by multinational Amazon, deal with Reliance Retail for sale of assets for nearly Rs 25,000 crore, the Times of India reported.

Indian retailer Future Group on Tuesday challenged its own lenders in the Supreme Court to avoid facing insolvency proceedings over missing payments, citing its dispute with partner Amazon.com Inc , according to a legal filing reviewed by Reuters. Future, the country's second-largest retailer, has since 2020 failed to complete its $3.4 billion retail asset sale to a rival due to a row with Amazon, which argues the Indian group violated certain non-compete contractual terms the two sides had. Future denies any wrongdoing.

Future Retail Ltd. isn’t in a position to make a payment on 35 billion rupees ($471 million) of past-due debt before the grace period expires and will also miss an upcoming $14 million bond coupon deadline, Bloomberg News reported. Its dollar bond fell following the news, suffering its biggest decline in about three weeks on Friday. Embroiled in a legal dispute with Amazon.com Inc. that has damaged its ability to raise funds, the Mumbai-based retailer is coming up against two key milestones that will test creditors’ faith after its onshore debt was restructured during the pandemic.