In India, crises move slowly. We’ve known for years that the state-controlled banks that dominate the financial sector were groaning under the weight of bad loans, a Bloomberg View reported. For years, though, the government successfully kicked the can down the road. All those assets haven’t been accounted for yet, the banks haven’t been fully recapitalized, the bankruptcy process isn’t working to schedule, yet somehow the banks are still chugging along. India’s luck may be about to run out.

Debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Service (IL&FS) has initiated steps to explore the sale of certain assets, as it attempts to move forward on a restructuring plan for the wider group, the company said in a statement on Monday, Reuters reported. The firm said IL&FS’ board has decided to publicly solicit expressions of interest for its stakes in both IL&FS Securities Services, and ISSL Settlement & Transaction Services, which both play in the financial services space.

Essar Steel India sought a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo on an online trading platform this week, three industry sources said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The company, a unit of Indian commodity conglomerate Essar Group, was seeking a cargo on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis for delivery into Dahej over Dec. 28-29, the sources said. It sought a cargo through LNG trading marketplace Global LNG Exchange (GLX) on Wednesday but did not attract any offers, one of the sources said.

A top Indian government official on Monday said the nation’s non-banking housing finance companies were facing liquidity stress, in comments that are likely to put more pressure on the Indian central bank to ease its policy towards the sector, Reuters reported. The intervention by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas came after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and other government officials raised the issue of a liquidity crunch at a meeting with Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel and other regulators last week.

India's Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) fears significant default from large non-banking finance companies (NBFC) and housing finance companies in the next six weeks if no additional liquidity support is provided to these firms, business news website MoneyControl said here on Friday, Reuters reported. The DEA, in a letter to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, described the financial situation as "still fragile" when discussing the financial stability impact of the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Service Ltd's (IL&FS) default, the website said.

Does the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi see value in an independent central bank? As New Delhi escalates a confrontation with the Reserve Bank of India, the question has become urgent, The Wall Street Journal reported in a commentary. India risks shredding the reputation of an important financial institution at a time of domestic and global financial uncertainty.

The $12.8 billion bankruptcy of shadow lender Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. is starting to offer a glimmer of hope. It’s about time. Unexpected defaults by the financier, owner and operator of Indian infrastructure assets have caused a liquidity squeeze, which has brought strained relations between the government and the central bank to breaking point, a Bloomberg View reported.

The new board of India’s Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) submitted a plan to revive the debt-laden firm to a company law tribunal on Wednesday, paving the way to a potential resolution of the group’s future, Reuters reported. The Indian government this month took control of IL&FS, a major infrastructure financing and development company, after it defaulted on some of its debt, triggering fears of contagion across India’s financial system.

Jet Airways Ltd said on Wednesday it has received notices on payment delays from a few aircraft lessors, adding to the debt-laden airline’s woes, Reuters reported. Profits of airlines in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market have been dented with the surge in crude oil prices and a depreciating rupee. Jet has been struggling to keep itself afloat and it had said in August that it will inject funds and cut costs to turn around the business. Jet said in a statement on Wednesday that it had got notices for payment delays/defaults from few aircraft lessors, but did not elaborate further.

India is examining options including an outright sale of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd., a person with knowledge of the matter said, as the government tries to stem defaults at the lender with $12.6 billion of debt, Bloomberg News reported. A plan to be presented to a bankruptcy court Wednesday by the state-appointed board of the lender includes selling the entire stake to a financially strong investor and ensure business continuity, the person said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private.