GVK Power and Infrastructure faces insolvency proceedings on loan default

GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd (GVKPIL) will face insolvency proceedings for failure to pay loans to lenders, a corporate insolvency court has said.

The Hyderabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) issued the order on a petition of lenders' group led by ICICI Bank Ltd, GVKPIL said in a stock exchange filing.

The loan was originally availed of by GVK Coal Developers (Singapore) Pte Ltd over a decade ago, for which GVKPIL acted as a guarantor.

The NCLT bench issued the order on July 12, which was made public on Monday. The petition was filed by ICICI Bank in 2022.

NCLT appointed Satish Kumar Gupta as an interim resolution professional for managing the company during pendency of the insolvency.

"The corporate debtor has acknowledged its liabilities and admitted the factum of corporate guarantee in its annual reports for the FYs 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21. As on June 13, 2022, the borrower was liable to pay USD 1.84 billion comprising principal amount of USD 1.13 billion, interest of USD 731.57 million and agency fee of USD 144,000," according to the NCLT order, which was made public by GVKPIL in the stock exchange filing.

Senior counsel K Vivek Reddy, representing ICICI, referenced a London court judgment from October of the previous year to support the insolvency proceedings against GVKPIL.

"The first default occurred in February 2017 and remains unresolved. GVKPIL, as the guarantor for the loan taken by GVK Coal, is liable. The London court confirmed this liability, and given GVK's failure to make any payments, bankruptcy is the necessary course of action," he stated.

In September 2011, ICICI Bank (Dubai, Bahrain, and Singapore branches), along with Bank of Baroda (Ras Al Khaimah), Bank of India (London and Singapore), and Canara Bank (London), sanctioned a term loan facility of Rs 8,356 crore and a letter of credit for Rs 292 crore to GVK Coal for acquiring coal mines in Australia.

Additional term loans of Rs 367 crore were sanctioned by other banks in March 2014 that was later increased to Rs 2,089 crore.

In March 2016, ICICI Bank discovered that GVK Group intended to sell its stake in Bangalore International Airport Ltd without lender consent, violating the facility agreements.

The banks filed an injunction application in a London court in April 2016, where GVK undertook not to sell its stake in Bengaluru airport.

Due to continued nonpayment of the loan, the lender banks filed claims before the London court for Rs 5,915 crore under facility agreement-I and Rs 1,236 crore under facility agreement-II.

In November 2020, ICICI Bank invoked its corporate guarantee, demanding Rs 5,000 crore towards principal and interest from GVKPIL.

GVKPIL expressed its inability to honour the payments but committed to repay after negotiating a solution with the Adani Group, requesting the bank to refrain from taking action, according to the order.

However, ICICI Bank proceeded to approach the NCLT in 2022 to initiate insolvency proceedings against GVKPIL. On July 12, the NCLT determined that as of June 13, 2022, GVKPIL was liable for Rs 15,576 crore, comprising Rs 9,463 crore in principal, Rs 6,113 crore in interest, and Rs 1.23 crore in agency fees.