The Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has extended the deadline for the completion of the resolution process of Reliance Capital by three months from April 16 to July 16. This comes as lenders have decided to hold another round of auction to maximise their recovery.
The extension was necessitated after lenders decided to hold the second round of auction on April 26 for Reliance Capital’s assets.
Some of the bidders who confirmed their participation in the second round are IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) of Hinduja Group, Torrent Investment and Singapore-based Oaktree.
The second auction round was also delayed from April 11 to April 26 as the lenders required more time to sort out the issues raised by the bidders. Reliance Capital has been asked by the lenders to ensure that the resolution plan is in compliance with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and Request for Resolution Plan (RFRP).
As per reports, bidders want certainty from the lenders that there will be no further negotiations after the completion of the second round. They want the resolution process to attain finality after the culmination of the second round.
The deadline for completion of the resolution process has been extended multiple times in the past. The Reserve Bank of India superseded the board of Reliance Capital on November 29, 2021, over payment defaults and governance issues. Nageswara Rao Y was appointed the administrator in relation to the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the firm.
Reliance Capital is the third large non-banking financial company (NBFC), after Srei Group NBFC and Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL), against which the central bank has initiated bankruptcy proceedings under IBC.
Also read: Debt-ridden Reliance Capital's lenders fix April 26 as new date for second auction