30 regional firms face insolvency proceedings

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 21

At least 30 companies of the region are undergoing insolvency proceedings filed by banks before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chandigarh, since the enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) last year. 

“These include Amtek Auto, SEL Manufacturing, James Hospitality, Arcee Ispat Udyog Ltd, Mor Farms (P) Ltd and Castex Technologies. The cases have been filed by the creditors, including Corporation Bank, SBI and PNB,” said sources. 

Amtek Auto has a liability of Rs 14,000 crore. Recently, Liberty House, a part of Sanjeev Gupta’s global industrial group GFG Alliance, has been chosen as the highest preferred bidder for Amtek Auto’s assets, which include 35 automotive component plants across India, Japan, Thailand and Spain, employing 6,000 people.

Similarly, SBI filed bankruptcy proceedings against Ludhiana-based textile player, SEL Manufacturing Company Ltd in October last year. As per sources, SEL owes over Rs 4,000 crore to 17 nationalised banks as of March 2017. 

On being asked about the resolution mechanism, experts said, “Under the IBC, once the case is filed for insolvency with the NCLT, the resolution professional takes over the management of the company and tries to resolve the issue. The liquidation process begins only when the resolution professional is not hopeful of reviving the company.”