UCO Bank declares Yashovardhan Birla wilful defaulter after group firm fails to pay Rs 67.65 cr loan

State-run UCO Bank has reportedly declared Yashovardhan Birla, chairman of the Yash Birla group, a wilful defaulter after one of the firms, Birla Surya, in his group failed to repay Rs 67.65 crore loan given by the bank, said a media report. The Kolkata-based bank on Sunday put out a public notice with Birla’s photograph declaring him a wilful defaulter after the firm Birla Surya did not repay loans which it took for manufacturing multi-crystalline solar photovoltaic cells, said a report in The Times of India. Birla is the director of the firm. [caption id=“attachment_2264540” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Yashovardhan Birla’s group. AFP[/caption] According to the news report, the bank said the company had a credit limit of Rs 100 crore, of which Rs 67 crore plus interest was outstanding. The loan was classified as a non-performing asset in 2013. “The borrower company and its directors, promoters, guarantors were declared as wilful defaulters by the bank and their name reported to the credit information companies for public information,” a report in The Financial Express said. According to Business Standard, the borrower didn’t repay the dues despite s everal notices served by UCO Bank The bank was founded in 1943 by industrialist GD Birla, the brother of Yashovardhan Birla’s great grandfather Rameshwar Das Birla In April 2017, State Bank of India (SBI) had asked Birla to pay Rs 17.5 crore within 15 days or face legal action, said a report in The Asian Age. The bank had issued a public notice against Birla and former employee PVR Murthy, demanding that the loan amount be paid back. Birla, however, said that he was neither borrower nor guarantor hence, he could not be issued any notice, said the report. — With PTI inputs