A consortium led by VTB Group, Russia’s second-largest bank, said it is willing to buy out a local partner to ensure its offer for an indebted Indian steel mill meets government rules, setting up a contest with billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, Bloomberg News reported. Other investors in the group are willing to buy out Rewant Ruia’s stake in investment vehicle Numetal Ltd., Antoine Chemali, senior advisor for Mauritius-based Numetal, said in an interview in Mumbai on Thursday. That’s likely required because Ruia’s father is the founder of Essar Steel India Ltd.

India's Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) will appeal a court order that stays the sale of some telecom assets of one of its units, the company said in a statement on Monday, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The National Company Law Tribunal, India's designated court for bankruptcy cases, on Monday stayed the sale of assets of Reliance Infratel Ltd in response to a petition filed by HSBC Daisy Investments (Mauritius) Ltd, local media reported.

In a move aimed at providing relief to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), a panel set up to look into various issues relating to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is considering allowing promoters of MSMEs to bid for their stressed assets even without clearing dues if they are not wilful defaulters, official sources told Financial Express.

The government may seek to ease the ‘related party’ norms of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to ensure the law is not overly restrictive and doesn’t cut down the number of those eligible to bid for assets, effectively weakening competition and reducing the amount that banks can recoup, a senior government official told the Economic Times. The IBC was strengthened by ordinance and then by amendment to prevent promoters from regaining control of assets in insolvency proceedings unless they repaid their dues.

Tata Steel Ltd said on Wednesday it had been selected as the highest bidder to buy a controlling stake in debt-laden Bhushan Steel Ltd, ending weeks of speculation on which Indian group would clinch a deal, Reuters reported. Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group’s steel business and India’s biggest domestic steelmaker JSW Steel Ltd were the two primary industry bidders for the acquisition of Bhushan Steel.

The debt resolution of Essar Steel has turned into a full-scale corporate war between VTB Bank of Russia and LN Mittal’s ArcelorMittal, both of which have made multi-billion dollars offers for the Gujarat-based steel company, Business Standard reported. All eyes are now on the lenders’ meeting scheduled on Thursday. The lenders are expected to call for a second round of bidding. According to sources, legal advisers are not convinced about the eligibility of either bidder.

Billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan’s Aircel Ltd. has asked an Indian court to initiate bankruptcy proceedings as it’s unable to repay about 500 billion rupees ($7.7 billion) of dues, Bloomberg News reported. The mobile carrier owes about 150 billion rupees to secured financial creditors and the rest to operational unsecured creditors, including those who provided it goods and services, Janak Dwarkadas, a lawyer representing Aircel, told the Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal on Monday. In addition, the company also has an unpaid interest amount totaling 5.79 billion rupees, he said.

Federal police in India on Thursday told a court an internal auditor at a Mumbai branch of Punjab National Bank conspired with other officials to carry out a $2 billion fraud at the country’s second-biggest state lender. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested auditor Mohinder Kumar Sharma, widening its probe into the biggest bank fraud in India’s history, Reuters reported. On Thursday it accused Sharma of conspiracy in a filing to a Mumbai court, which committed him to police custody until March 13.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday interrogated Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh’s son-in-law, Gurpal Singh, in connection with Simbhaoli Sugar loan default case, Mint reported. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd and its executives in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs97.85 crore, officials said on Thursday. A case was registered by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the searches were conducted by it in Hapur and Noida on Wednesday.

Indian mobile carrier Aircel Ltd filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, pressured by a high debt pile and mounting losses following a price war triggered by a telecom upstart, Reuters reported. Talks between Aircel, 74 percent owned by Malaysia’s Maxis Communications Bhd, and Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) to combine their wireless business was called off in late 2017 due to regulatory and legal uncertainties and interventions by various parties. Aircel, whose debt amounts to 155 billion rupees ($2.38 billion), then tried unsuccessfully to restructure its debt.