India

The Indian government is considering changes to its bankruptcy laws, including streamlining court processes, amid growing concerns over lengthy proceedings and low recovery rates, the Economic Times of India reported. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India is finalizing a set of proposals aimed at speeding up resolution. Public consultation is set to end Tuesday, though the deadline may be extended. Global investors have long been cautious about lending in India, where insolvency cases can often run for years with poor recoveries.

Insolvency cases initiated by operational creditors, such as raw material suppliers and vendors, have crashed to their lowest this fiscal year, signalling their growing preference for faster out-of-court settlements with defaulters, Indian officials and experts said, the Economic Times of India reported. The number of insolvency cases admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on applications filed by operational creditors plunged 41% to 187 until December this fiscal from 316 a year before, showed the data compiled by the bankruptcy regulator.

Business tycoon Vijay Mallya, facing bankruptcy proceedings pursued by Indian banks in the UK, has expressed concerns that these legal actions have taken on an “unreal quality” following a statement made by India’s Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in Parliament, the Economic Times of India reported. Mallya has now instructed his new legal team to pursue an annulment of his bankruptcy order, which was under review in the High Court in London this week, reported PTI, on Saturday.

Financial creditors of Reliance Big Private Limited, formerly promoted by Anil Ambani, are set to face a 99% haircut as part of the approved resolution plan in its insolvency case. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai Bench, has given its nod to the resolution plan submitted by Manoj Kumar Upadhyay through his affiliate firm, ACME Cleantech Solutions Private Limited, for the revival of Reliance Big Private Limited, the New Indian Express reported. As per the resolution plan, secured financial creditors will receive Rs.

The Delhi insolvency court on Thursday admitted Aviom India Housing Finance Pvt. Ltd into bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings following a plea by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), LiveMont.com reported. RBI had moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Financial Service Providers (FSP) Insolvency Rules, 2019, leading to an interim moratorium that restricts legal proceedings, asset transfers, and recovery actions against the company. However, the supply of essential goods and services will not be disrupted during this period.

Lenders continue to take deeper haircuts/losses from the insolvency and bankruptcy process which has from day-one been plagued by ordinate delays due to frequent adjournments of hearings which is largely blamed on the collusion between ex-promoters and resolution professionals. As a result, the average haircut that lenders are forced to take hovers around 70% as of the December quarter when overall recovery stood at 31.4%, the New Indian Express reported.

India and the U.S. agreed on Thursday to start talks to clinch an early trade deal and resolve their standoff over tariffs as New Delhi promised to buy more U.S. oil, gas and military equipment and fight illegal immigration, Reuters reported. The series of agreements emerged after talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, just hours after Trump railed against the climate for U.S. businesses in India and unveiled a roadmap for reciprocal tariffs on countries that put duties on U.S. imports.