The resolution plans of debt-laden shadow lender Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) have hit a roadblock after the custodian of DHFL bonds said on Thursday it is taking the firm to bankruptcy court on behalf of certain debenture holders, Reuters reported. The application was filed on Oct 16 in the Mumbai Debts Recovery Tribunal to claim 268.61 billion rupees ($3.8 billion), it said. The claim is: “for recovery of the amount of debentures outstanding, along with interest, for and on behalf of all debenture holders under all the three public issues,” the custodian said.

For years, the Essar Group, an Indian business empire built by brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia, happily racked up debt, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. That changed more than two years ago when the government of prime minister Narendra Modi introduced a new bankruptcy regime that favoured banks over borrowers — however powerful the latter may have been. The Ruia family lost control of Essar in July 2017 when the country’s central bank ordered the bankruptcy code to be used against defaulters, including Essar Steel. Essar Oil was sold to a Rosneft-led group in 2017.

An Indian irrigation firm has been cut to “selective default” by S&P Global Ratings, as more cracks emerge in India’s offshore junk bond market, Bloomberg News reported. Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. missed certain principal payments under its working capital facilities and S&P sees a “high likelihood” that the company would be classified as a nonperforming asset by its bankers. A selective default means S&P believes a firm has defaulted on a specific issue but will meet its other obligations.

The World Bank cut India’s economic growth forecast by the most among South Asian nations on Sunday, below the outlook pegged by the nation’s central bank for this year, mainly because of a deceleration in domestic demand, Bloomberg News reported. India’s gross domestic product growth is projected at 6% in the fiscal year started on April 1, compared with 7.5% forecast in April and 6.8% recorded a year earlier, the bank said in its latest South Asia Economic Focus report. Growth is expected to gradually recover to 6.9% in 2020-21 and to 7.2% in the following year, it said.

All around HDFC Bank Ltd., India’s biggest lender by market value, the news seems to be bad and getting worse: economic growth is slowing, loan losses are rising and shadow banks are mired in crisis, Bloomberg News reported. And yet investors keep piling into HDFC Bank’s stock, convinced it will emerge a winner from India’s financial woes. The company’s market value has surged by $21 billion over the past year, more than any other bank worldwide. Among the 25 biggest lenders globally, no other stock commands a higher price relative to earnings or net assets.

India’s financial fraud agency said on Saturday assets worth 40.25 billion rupees ($567.60 million) of Bhushan Power & Steel Limited were connected with a money-laundering probe, a move that could scupper the debt-ridden firm’s sale to JSW Steel Ltd, Reuters reported. The Enforcement Directorate said on Twitter that Bhushan Power’s land, building, plant and machinery were among the assets now associated with an ongoing banking fraud investigation into the firm’s former owners.

The Colombian Synergy Group, the sole entity interested in Jet Airways, has sought time till November 30 to complete its due diligence and put in a formal bid for the grounded airline, sources said. The committee of creditors (CoC) for Jet Airways may give the group time till the end of October, The Financial Express reported. The resolution of the airline will consequently get delayed further. “The Synergy Group has not yet found an Indian partner. They are also taking time to complete due diligence and prepare a business plan.

Federal Bank, invoking provisions in the Insolvency Code 2016, has taken possession of a sea plane by using the services of an insolvency professional for recovery of a defaulted loan, The Hindu reported. A statement from the bank said that the seaplane company owed more than 6 crore to the bank and as the provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest (SARFAESI) Act did not envisage action on assets such as aircraft, the bank invoked provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 to recover the loan dues.

Bank of India has filed a petition for insolvency against Dharani Sugars and Chemicals, a flagship company of the PGP Group of Companies with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), The Times of India reported. Dharani Sugars said that consequent to its debts being classified as non-performing in August 2018, the company submitted a resolution plan to its lenders, and also put forward a proposal for One Time Settlement (OTS) to the banks, both of which are under consideration.

In New Delhi’s bustling Malviya Nagar market, the local Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank branch was known for its helpful staff — and for offering interest rates on deposits that were 0.75 percentage points higher than mainstream commercial banks, the Financial Times reported. “The staff here were very friendly,” says Tilak Arora, 43, the owner of a video game parlour whose life-savings of Rs10m ($141,000) was deposited at PMC. “They also did not demand too many documents to open the account.