Ballarpur group firm to face NCLT over bank default allegations

Private lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has taken Ballarpur Industries arm BILT Graphic Paper Products to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for default of Rs 218 crore. An NCLT tribunal of VP Singh and Ravikumar Duraisamy adjourned the matter to May 8 when they will decide on the admissibility of the bankruptcy petition. "The respondent (BILT Graphic) can file its response during that time," the court added.

BILT Graphics owes over Rs 6,000 crore to lenders. The company was on the second list of 29 defaulting companies of RBI, recommending that these firms be referred for resolution through the bankruptcy code. In February 2018, IDBI Bank took the company to NCLT after an RBI direction to do so as the regulator rejected its debt recast package as only 70 per cent of the lenders had signed it.

However, in March 2018, the company challenged the RBI directive in Delhi High Court, which ordered the lender to maintain status quo at NCLT. Later, the company moved the Supreme Court, where the matter is still pending.

(With inputs from agencies.)