Varde Partners Inc. and Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. are creating a joint venture to invest as much as $1 billion in distressed assets in India, according to people familiar with the transaction, who asked not to be identified because the information is private, Bloomberg News reported. The U.S. investment firm and Indian financial services provider, helmed by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, are expected to deploy this sum over three years, one of the people said. The venture, which will scout for deals of up to $100 million, may be announced as early as this week, the person said.

Indian tycoon Anil Ambani has declared a moment of “transformation” for his troubled business empire, after selling a large Mumbai power business for $2bn in his quest to pare a hefty debt burden, the Financial Times reported. Announcing the sale of Reliance Infrastructure’s Mumbai distribution business to Adani Transmission on Wednesday, Mr Ambani said the total proceeds of Rs188bn ($2.7bn) would slash the leverage of his flagship business.

An Indian court rejected a plea by the nation’s power producers to exempt generators from central bank’s rules on repaying loans, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of India.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s energy unit is nearing a deal to acquire a 1,370-megawatt thermal power plant backed by GMR Infrastructure Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter. Adani Power Ltd. will take over about 38 billion rupees ($543 million) of loans out of a total of 58 billion rupees that GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd. owes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private, Bloomberg News reported. Adani Power will also assume non-funded liabilities of about 14 billion rupees, the people said.

Reliance Communications Ltd., the Indian wireless carrier that’s trying to pay down debt, wrapped up the sale of its fiber and related infrastructure assets for 30 billion rupees ($429 million) to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Bloomberg News reported. The Anil Ambani-helmed operator is transferring 178,000 kilometers of fiber to sibling billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s company, according to an exchange filing. Reliance Communications’ shares were down about 0.5 percent on Monday in Mumbai at 11:15 a.m., taking declines this year to 48 percent. S&P BSE Sensex was trading 1 percent higher.

Formula One owner Liberty Media could be left with an unexpected bill of $67.3 million driven by a dispute over the recent rescue of the Force India racing team. Force India crashed into administration, the British equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, at the end of July after its owners got into financial difficulty, Forbes reported. Last week the team’s assets were sold to a new vehicle called Racing Point which is led by Lawrence Stroll, the tycoon who helped to develop the Tommy Hilfiger fashion brand.

Nearly 80 large borrowers, with at least Rs 2000 crore of outstanding loans each, are likely to be impacted by the Reserve Bank of India's February 12 circular on non-performing loans unless they implement a resolution plan before the August 27 deadline, sources told CNBC-TV18. According to the central bank's revised framework for the resolution of stressed assets, now popularly referred to as the February 12 circular, banks were given 180 days to resolve defaulting accounts of over Rs 2,000 crore, CNBC-TV18 reported.

Force India mechanics were preparing their cars for the Belgian Grand Prix on Thursday despite lingering uncertainty about the Formula One team’s eligibility to race after a change of ownership, Reuters reported. The pink and white trucks and hospitality unit had no Force India branding, with the official team name appearing only over the garage on signs put up by Spa circuit organisers.

India’s Ambani brothers have completed the first part of a long pending multibillion-dollar telecom transaction, after months of uncertainty amid insolvency action against the stricken Reliance Communications, the Financial Times reported. RCom, controlled by Anil Ambani, said on Thursday that it had completed the sale of telecom infrastructure worth Rs20bn ($285m) to Reliance Jio, led by Mr Ambani’s older brother Mukesh.

Russian potash producer Uralkali has questioned the process behind the sale of the Force India Formula One team after losing out in a battle between billionaire fathers of young racing drivers, Reuters reported. Uralkali co-owner Dmitry Mazepin is the father of 19-year-old Nikita, who races in the junior GP3 series and is a development driver for Force India. The team were put into administration at the end of July with a rescue deal led by Canadian Lawrence Stroll, the father of 19-year-old Williams F1 racer Lance, announced on Aug. 7.