500 application for resolution filed with NCLT: IBBI Chief

As many as 500 applications, including from banks, have been filed with various benches of NCLT for bankruptcy resolution, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India chairman M S Sahoo said.
"500 applications have been filed with various benches National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for resolution for insolvency and bankruptcy. The cases ranges from few lakh to Rs 5,000 crore," Sahoo told PTI.
In the last quarter ended March, 157 applications (64 before the Mumbai Bench, 36 before the Delhi Bench, 14 before the Kolkata Bench and 43 before other Benches) were filed.
Of the 30, five filed by operational creditors (OCs), seven by financial creditors (FCs) and 18 by corporate debtors (CDs) were admitted.

The defaults underlying the admitted applications range from a few lakh of rupees to a few thousand crore of rupees, he said.
Some of the applications filed include that of Gupta Coal India (Rs 2,580.07 crore), Kamineni Steel & Power India Pvt Ltd (Rs 1,405.01 crore), JODPL Private Ltd (Rs 1,332.50 crore) and VNR Infrastructures Ltd (Rs 1,102.78 crore).

He further said a one-stop shop for details on all financial transactions of lenders, information utilities under the insolvency and bankruptcy law are likely to be operational in next three months.
These "unique" institutions -- governed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) -- would act as repository of information about lending and borrowing activities done by all financial institution.

"They will provide ready information for resolution professionals and courts like NCLT. It will help them save time as information would be readily available for expeditious clearance of cases," he said.
Having such institutions might also help fight against the bad loans menace amid the government empowering RBI to direct banks to initiate insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings against defaulters under the IBC.
Under the IBC, information utilities can have a maximum of 49 per cent foreign holding and rules for setting up such entities are already in place.
"One company has applied for in-principal approval...And FDI beyond 49 per cent is not allowed. Information utility company should become a reality in next 2-3 months," he said.

An information utility would be a storehouse of financial information that helps establish defaults as well as verify claims expeditiously. Having such a system would facilitate completion of transactions under the Code in a time bound manner.