Govt plans to have more NCLT benches

The government plans to have more benches of the National Company Law Tribunal on the basis of case load, a senior official said today amid rising number of insolvency cases coming up before the NCLT.

Currently, there are 11 NCLT benches in different parts of the country, including two in the national capital.

Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas said the strength of the NCLT would be doubled shortly.

According to him, around 16,000 cases have been disposed of by the tribunal in the last one-and-a-half years. "Based on case load, there is a definite plan to have new benches and new courts," he said.

Matters related to companies law as well as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) come up before the tribunal.

A case is admitted for resolution under the Code only after approval from the NCLT.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) Chairman M S Sahoo said more than 650 corporate debtors have been admitted into resolution.

Out of them, around 90 have exited either by way of resolution or liquidation, he said, adding that 150 corporates are undergoing voluntary liquidation.

More than Rs 4 lakh crore worth non-performing assets have come up for resolution under the Code, according to Sahoo.

Citing latest RBI data, Srinivas said Rs 9.5 lakh crore is locked up in Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and about "Rs 4 lakh crore of NPAs have come into the system (under the IBC)".

They were speaking at a conference organised by industry body CII.