Lenders seek restriction on Gammon chief’s travel

MUMBAI: Banks have written to the regional passport officer, Mumbai, asking him to impound the passport of Abhijit Rajan, chairman of Gammon India — an engineering firm that has defaulted on its loans. The lenders’ decision was made public by BJP member of Parliament Kirit Somaiya, who said in a statement that banks have informed him that they have asked for Rajan’s passport to be impounded.

In the letter, Allahabad Bank said that leader of their consortium, ICICI Bank, had convened a meeting of lenders on September 19 to discuss the complaint. Following this, the banks approached the passport authorities. Allahabad Bank is understood to have written to Somaiya, acknowledging the MP’s complaint along with confidential information pertaining to the company’s group accounts received from a whistleblower.

Gammon India owes banks around Rs 7,000 crore. Last month, public sector lender Union Bank of India had approached the bankruptcy court after the company defaulted on a Rs 315-crore loan.


Although Gammon India had defaulted in 2015, banks have been trying to get the company back on track under various restructuring schemes. However, time ran out for the company after the RBI did away with all loan-restructuring schemes in February this year. Lenders have faced flak after promoters like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi fled the country after defaulting on large loans.