PNB takes Tarapur Textiles Park to DRT for $13-million loan default

With investigations into Nirav Modi scam in full swing, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has unearthed yet another default from its London branch. The bank has moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) against Tarapur Textiles Park for defaulting an amount worth $13 million. 

A PNB official said Tarapur Textile account had turned into a non-performing asset and PNBIL (PNB International Ltd) has initiated recovery proceedings against the borrower. 

The case had been filed in the DRT by PNBIL in July last year and the matter is pending in court since then, PNB said.

The bank is investigating why the loan was given by the London branch when the project was set up by an Indian company in Maharashtra. The bank has also invoked the personal guarantees of the promoters but it has not yielded any results so far for the bank in its bid to recover the dues.

An email sent to Tarapur Textiles did not elicit any response. 

In February last year, PNB made headlines but jeweller Nirav Modi-owned Firestar International and Gitanjali Gems defaulted loans worth Rs 14,300 crore. Nirav Modi is currently in the custody of British authorities even as his plea against extradition to India is heard by an appeal court. In August 13 last year, Allahabad Bank Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Usha Ananthasubramanian was sacked by the government, a day before retirement, for her alleged involvement in the Rs 14,300 PNB fraud.