The number of Indian real estate companies tipped into insolvency has doubled in less than a year since the collapse of a key shadow bank, an event often compared to the Lehman crisis that squeezed American funding markets a decade ago, Bloomberg News reported. As many as 421 developers entered bankruptcy court by the end of June, up from 209 in September 2018, around the time when the government seized control of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. The move triggered a credit crunch for smaller financiers and property firms, which depend on funds from shadow lenders.

One of India’s largest private sector lenders slumped by a record in the bond market on Wednesday, as concerns mount over the health of the nation’s finance sector amid a shadow banking crisis, Bloomberg News reported. Dollar bonds of Yes Bank Ltd., which has sizable exposure to the cash-strapped shadow lenders, slumped a record 5.5 cents to 80.9 cents on the dollar on Wednesday, the lowest since the bonds were sold in 2018.

An Indian bank was able to dupe regulators about its growing exposure to a single property developer for at least a decade before the firm filed for insolvency, according to a letter written by the lender’s managing director, who has since been removed, Bloomberg News reported. Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative Bank Ltd. used “dummy accounts” and other methods to hide its oversized loans to Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd. from the Reserve Bank of India, Joy Thomas wrote in the letter, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News.

India’s Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) said on Tuesday it aims to resolve 50% of its debt by March 2020 and had identified resolution plans for all of its 302 entities, Reuters reported. The indebted conglomerate’s non-executive chairman Uday Kotak made the comment a year after the government replaced IL&FS management with a team he leads, following a series of defaults that triggered concerns of a bad debt crisis in India’s shadow banking sector.

In a related story, Bloomberg News reported that four years into one of the biggest, longest unwindings in India’s corporate history, tycoon Anil Ambani found himself in a familiar place Monday: Presenting shareholders with another plan to sell off assets and pay debt. His Reliance Group is planning to pay creditors 150 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) more by March, the embattled executive told investors on Monday in Mumbai. Financial unit Reliance Capital Ltd., whose credit rating was downgraded to default by local firms this month, will exit its lending business, he said.

Mounting debt failures in India have been catching rating companies off guard, underscoring continued challenges a year after the landmark failure of shadow bank IL&FS increased scrutiny of the industry, Bloomberg News reported. Defaults at companies including Dewan Housing Finance Corp., Cox & Kings Ltd. and Altico Capital India Ltd. have occurred even as their long-term ratings indicated very low to moderate risk of non-payment. “Raters have not been able to detect stress in time,” said Ashutosh Khajuria, chief financial officer at Federal Bank Ltd.

The dedicated bankruptcy court, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), ordered that insolvency proceedings be started against Mumbai-based real estate developer Lokhandwala Infrastructure under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), The Economic Times reported. The Mumbai bench of NCLT restricted the developer from creating any third-party rights or disposing of any assets. This is the second major city-based real estate developer after HDIL which has been referred for the insolvency resolution process under the IBC.

Between August 2017 and September 2017, HDFC had sold over 28 lakh pledged equity shares of Religare for a net value of Rs 12.81 crore and 10 lakh pledged shares of Fortis Healthcare for a net value of Rs 14.53 crore, The Financial Express reported. The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear HDFC’s appeal seeking to initiate insolvency proceedings against RHC Holding, an entity promoted by billionaire brothers Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh for recovery of `41 crore.

India’s top mutual funds risk running afoul of the country’s securities regulator for granting more time to media mogul Subhash Chandra for repaying nearly a billion dollars in debt, Bloomberg News reported. Shares of the group’s flagship Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. have steadied since hitting a five-year low Monday after the group said the money managers had agreed to extend the repayment timelines on obligations due by September-end. What’s unclear is how the extension will be looked at by the regulator, who in June invalidated pacts between funds and their borrowers.

Indian media giant Essel Group, run by industry mogul Subhash Chandra, is seeking an extension to repay debt in order to avoid creditors liquidating its shares, Bloomberg News reported. The company faces a month-end debt repayment deadline. If that’s not met, creditors can sell shares in the group’s flagship Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. kept as collateral against loans. The case highlights broader risks that borrowings backed by stock pose to the equity market. There’s a lot at stake with share-backed loans currently at about 1.9 trillion rupees ($26.5 billion).