India’s top court approved a plan giving phone companies 10 years to pay back a combined 1.4 trillion rupees ($19 billion) in outstanding fees, a significant concession from the original three month deadline but only half the time the carriers had sought, Bloomberg News reported. A three-judge panel on Tuesday said 10% of the dues must be paid in the first tranche and the written judgment, which is awaited, will provide more details on the repayment structure. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had proposed a 20-year repayment window, which the telecom companies had supported.

India has rolled out a fresh plan to tackle an old problem: the mountain of bad loans held by its banks, Bloomberg News reported. With the pandemic forecast to push soured assets to a two-decade high, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is struggling to find cash to support the state-run lenders that hold most of it, and to spur credit to a shrinking economy. Most of the risky debt is concentrated in two sectors -- telecoms and utilities -- that are vulnerable to the economic slowdown, meaning if they face more trouble, then a massive amount of debt goes bad.

A single-member bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) can’t hear and decide on a company when the law requires a division bench, including both judicial and technical members, to constitute the adjudicating authority, The Economic Times reported. Indore-based Indison Agro Foods Ltd, which is facing insolvency resolution by Allahabad Bank in the Ahmedabad NCLT, had approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), seeking appellate tribunal’s intervention for referring the matter to a division bench.

The Department of Telecommunications has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal challenging UV Asset Reconstruction Co.’s Rs 6,630 crore resolution plan for the bankrupt cellular operator Aircel Ltd, arguing that the plan doesn’t address the “huge amount” of dues owed by the company against fees for telecom license and right to use spectrum, BloombergQuint reported. The appellate tribunal has directed the parties to file affidavits within five days and will next hear the matter on Sept. 11.

The wrecking power of Covid-19 was on clear display today as India announced a new world record for daily infections followed by a 23.9 per cent plunge in gross domestic product for the second quarter — the biggest contraction of any major Asian country, the Financial Times reported. India’s economy was already in a weak state before the virus hit, but the world’s biggest lockdown further hammered sectors such as manufacturing and construction and brought business activity to a near standstill.

Markets regulator Sebi on Monday asked credit rating agencies not to consider as default the restructuring of debt done solely due to COVID-19 related stress by lenders, The Economic Times reported. The move comes after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provided a loan restructuring window for corporates following bankers' and industry's demand. As per RBI, restructuring will be allowed as per the prudential framework issued on June 7, 2019.

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet commercial banks and shadow lenders on Thursday to review implementation of loan restructuring programs following Covid-19 related stress, Bloomberg News reported. The meeting comes days after a debt payment holiday offered by the Reserve Bank of India’s ends. The central bank has since relaxed bad loan classification rules by allowing lenders the power to restructure certain loans. Banks are struggling to accelerate credit growth and are confronting a mounting bad debt pile that’s set to swell to a two-decade high.

The Finance Ministry has asked public sector banks to monitor cases where insolvency proceedings could be initiated against individuals who are guarantors of corporate debtors that have defaulted on loans, The Tribune reported. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) provides for a time-bound and market-linked resolution of stressed assets. The Code also provides for initiation of insolvency proceedings against personal guarantors of corporate debtors, even though the provision has not been used much by lenders to recover dues.

An Indian court on Thursday halted insolvency proceedings against Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani, the younger brother of India’s richest man, and barred him from disposing of any of his assets, Reuters reported. Anil Ambani, who runs a business group separate from his billionaire brother Mukesh Ambani, had filed a plea with the Delhi High Court challenging the appointment of a resolution professional over a roughly 12 billion rupee ($163 million)personal guarantee that he had given to the State Bank of India for loans to his companies.

State Bank of India (SBI), the lead creditor to Jain Irrigation Systems (JISL), is likely to consider a Rs 4,000-crore debt restructuring plan for the company next week, sources close to the development told FE. According to the restructuring plan, of the Rs 4,000-crore debt, Rs 2,800 crore will be converted into a sustainable portion, payable at 8.5% interest to lenders, The Financial Express reported. The remaining Rs 1,200- crore unsustainable debt will be converted into debentures, payable after eight years at 0.01% interest.