Banks decide to refer 22-23 large NPA accounts to NCLT for insolvency proceedings as RBI deadline ends

Mumbai: Unable to find any resolution on 28 stressed accounts from the second list, the lenders will be initiating insolvency proceedings against 22-23 of these borrowers which include Uttam Galva Steel, IVRCL, Ruchi Soya Industries and Essar Projects, a banker said. The Reserve Bank of India deadline to resolve these 28 accounts ended on Wednesday.

The regulator in August had asked bankers to refer these cases to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) if they failed to find a resolution by 31 December. These accounts together have an exposure of Rs 1.4 lakh crore.  “Except for Anrak Aluminium, Jayaswal Neco Industries, Soma Enterprises and Jaiprakash Associates, all other accounts are going to the NCLT (for resolution),” a senior banker told PTI on Wednesday. Banks have decided to refer Asian Color Coated Ispat, Castex Technologies, Coastal Projects, East Coast Energy, IVRCL, Orchid Pharma, SEL Manufacturing, Uttam Galva Metallic, Uttam Galva Steel, Visa Steel, Essar Projects, Jai Balaji Industries, Monnet Power, Nagarjuna Oil Refinery, Ruchi Soya Industries and Wind World India, to NCLT for insolvency proceedings. Lenders have already decided a restructuring plan for Jayawal Neco Industries and Soma Enterprise. In the case of Anrak Aluminium, banks are looking for a one-time settlement. “ICICI Bank, which is the consortium leader for Jaiprakash Associates, is seeking a special dispensation from the RBI for not taking it to NCLT as it has already decided a deep restructuring scheme for the account,” a banker said. The lenders have also sought RBI’s permission to extend the 31 December deadline for Videocon Industries, where they have huge exposure, said another banker. “If the RBI gives us some extension for Videocon Industries, then it is fine. Otherwise, it will also have to go to the NCLT,” said the banker. The lenders had the restructuring option under S4A (scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed assets), SDR (strategic debt restructuring) or 5/25 schemes till today for all the 28 accounts. Bankers, however, said nothing worked out in terms of determining the sustainable and non-sustainable parts of the debt in most of accounts. “We were also supposed to get mandatory rating from rating agency for these accounts. Who will give investment grade to these NPA accounts?” said a senior bank official from a state-run bank. Now banks will have to make a provision of 50 percent on these accounts by March 2018. It can be noted that of the 12 largest accounts that the RBI had named on the June list, 11 of them are under the NCLT. These 12 accounts were worth a quarter of the over Rs 10 lakh crore dud loans in the system.