Resolution professional may try to stop liquidation of Adhunik Metaliks

Adhunik Metaliks, which is staring at liquidation, may get a breather as the Resolution Professional (RP) is set to urge before the NCLT on May 1 to scrap up to 25 days from the mandated 270-day resolution deadline.

The 270-day deadline under the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) ends today. The case will come up at the Kolkata bench of NCLT on May 1 where its fate will be decided.

The RP may plead before the NCLT that up to 25 days got wasted on account of the eligibility criteria for the H1 (highest) bidder in order to protect the company from going into liquidation.

Adhunik Metaliks, the flagship of the Adhunik Group, is staring at liquidation as no resolution plan for the insolvent company has been approved by its lenders owing to eligibility issues of the UK-based Liberty House under Sec 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

"The RP, Sumit Binani, will be seeking omitting up to 25 days from the mandated 270 days before the NCLT for unwanted days lost in seeking clarifications from the Liberty House after ineligibility issue cropped up," a source in the know told PTI.

If NCLT admits RP's plea then the Committee of Creditors (CoC) will get time to either approve Liberty House's bid if the clarifications are satisfactory or move ahead with the second bidder's proposal.

There are only two resolution applicants -- the UK-based Liberty House and Maharashtra Seamless of DP Jindal Group in Adhunik Metaliks.

The lenders had sought information from the Liberty House on its reported outstanding loans to EXIM Bank and asked why it did not mention it in its bidding documents.

Sources said the CoC will require about two weeks to get a resolution firmed up, either from Liberty House or Maharastra Seamless.

The 270-day resolution deadline in bankruptcy proceedings also holds for Adhunik Group companies Orissa Manganese & Minerals and Zion Steel.

A resolution will be placed for Orissa Manganese & Minerals by the RP at NCLT on May 1.

The insolvency petition had been filed by State Bank of India (SBI) against the four companies of Adhunik group for a combined loan default estimated at Rs 5,000 crore.

The bank had also claimed dues from Zion Steel, as it was a co-obligator to the loans disbursed to OMML and Adhunik Metaliks under the provisions of the master restructuring agreement and the common loan agreement signed in March 2014.

There had been no resolution plan for Zion Steel.