GAIL seeks NCLT approval to admit Rs 390-crore claim against Videocon Industries

Mumbai: State-owned GAIL India Wednesday approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking admission of its Rs 390-crore claim from Videocon Industries, which the resolution professional (RP) rejected earlier. In an application, the counsel for GAIL said the state-owned gas utility, which is an operational creditor of Videocon, should be included in the list of creditors. “We want to file an application seeking a claim of Rs 390 crore which the RP had rejected,” the counsel told the tribunal. The counsel based the application on a similar matter where GAIL, being an operational creditor, was allowed to be in the list of creditors for Essar Steel and Alok Industries by the Ahmedabad bench of NCLT, even as the RP had rejected both the proposals. The NCLT’s Ahmedabad bench has directed the RP to include GAIL in the list of creditors for both the companies. [caption id=“attachment_4448333” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The single bench of NCLT presided over by MK Shrawat, Wednesday fixed the next date of hearing on the matter for 8 July. Videocon Industries’ total debt stood at Rs 19,506 crore as of March last year. The tribunal had admitted the insolvency petition against the Videocon Industries on June 7 last year. The company is among 40 large defaulters identified by the Reserve Bank of India for insolvency proceedings. The Aurangabad-based Videocon group’s core businesses are consumer electronics and oil and gas exploration. The lenders are auctioning the electronics business estimated to be worth $2 billion. The subsidiaries of Videocon are into manufacturing, sale and distribution of consumer goods. Some of the units referred to the NCLT include Value Industries, Trend Electronics, KAIL, Millennium Appliances India, Applicomp India, Sky Appliances, Techno Electronics, Century Appliances, PE Electronics, Next Retail, Evans Fraser & Co and Videocon International Electronics.