The three Chinese banks that had dragged Anil Ambani to a UK court are set to receive ₹7,000 crore if Reliance Communications’ (RCom) current debt resolution plan is approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The NCLT’s Mumbai Bench was slated to hear the case on Friday, even as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) raised objections to the present plan.
As per the resolution plan approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC), the three Chinese banks — Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Mumbai Branch, China Development Bank and Exim Bank of China — would get nearly 30 per cent of the total ₹23,000 crore, sources close to the development told
The 38 Indian lenders to RCom — including SBI, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank — are entitled to ₹13,000 crore.
The other foreign lenders to the beleaguered telecom company would get about ₹2,300 crore, which is nearly 10 per cent of the total proceeds, the sources said.
DoT to get none
However, the DoT, which is an operational creditor to RCom, has not been earmarked anything from the total ₹23,000-crore proceeds of the present resolution plan submitted before the NCLT that covers RCom, Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL) and Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL).
The DoT had earlier objected to the resolution plan as it was not been allocated anything from the proceeds. The department, along with Telecom Ministry, also made a written submission before the tribunal on Thursday.
The Mumbai Bench of the NCLT was to hear the resolution process on Friday and give its final approval, but now, with the DoT raising objections, the case is expected to linger on. In case it doesn’t approve the resolution plan, RCom and its subsidiaries will have to liquidated to pay the debtors.
In early 2019, RCom had filed for bankruptcy. This March, the CoC had approved a resolution plan that envisaged lenders recovering around ₹23,000 crore of their money, with a 50 per cent haircut.
Earlier, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm and Delhi-based UV Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd emerged as the highest bidders for the assets of RCom and its subsidiaries. As per the resolution plan, UVARCL would get RCom and RTL, while RJio would get RTIL’s tower and fibre assets.