ICICI Bank's insolvency plea may not be admitted by NCLT: Punj Lloyd

New Delhi: Engineering and construction firm Punj Lloyd expressed hope that the insolvency plea against the company by ICICI Bank would not be admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

According to the company, 90 per cent of its lenders are supporting a resolution plan under the leadership of the State Bank of India (SBI) for restructuring the outstanding debts of the company.

During NCLT proceedings , counsel appearing for SBI challenged the maintainability of ICICI Bank's plea filed under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to initiate insolvency proceedings against the company, Punj Lloyd said in a regulatory filing.

"In view of the above, the company is of the view that the application filed by ICICI Bank may not be admitted by the NCLT, since more than 90 per cent of the lenders of the company are in favour of restructuring the debts," said Punj Lloyd.

In a meeting of the lenders of the company held on June 13, 2018, more than 90 per cent of the lenders have agreed for restructuring its outstanding debts of the company, it added.

"It was also decided that SBI, on behalf of all lenders, shall oppose ICICI application at NCLT," the filing informed.

ICICI Bank's plea was heard by the principal bench of NCLT headed by President Justice M M Kumar, which issued notices to Punj Lloyd and SBI.

The two-member bench has directed to list the matter on July 24 for next hearing.

However, during the proceedings, another consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India, opposed the insolvency application filed by ICICI Bank.

According to them, Punj Lloyd's asset base covers only 5 per cent of the total debt?and a full recovery of their outstanding dues is possible only if the company is allowed to complete the 28 ongoing projects.

Punj Lloyd has total debt of around Rs 6,000 crore, in which ICICI bank claims are around Rs 850 crore.