NCLT admits Aditya Birla ARC's insolvency plea

New Delhi: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Hyderabad, on Tuesday admitted Aditya Birla ARC's initiation of insolvency process petition against the personal guarantees given by the promoters of KSK Mahanadi Power Company K.A. Sastry and S. Kishore.

The two promoters had guaranteed upward of Rs 4000 crore for loans sanctioned to KSK Mahanadi. Aditya Birla ARC has largest share of 33.38% in the total claims from KSK Mahanadi Power, which is around Rs 32,000 crore.

The duo had signed a guarantee agreement, which is a tripartite agreement between borrower, lender and guarantor who guarantees loan payment if the borrower defaults.


The petition was originally filed by the State Bank of India, which sold its debt to Aditya Birla ARC in 2022.

KSK Mahandai had taken loans to finance a 3600 MW coal-based Thermal Power project in Chattisgarh in 2009.

NCLT, Hyderabad in 2019 had admitted KSK Mahanadi into insolvency for default of debt of nearly Rs 1200 crore. The Resolution professional has admitted claims of Rs 29,330 crore by lenders of KSK Mahanadi.

Earlier this month, NCLT had lifted a stay on the resolution process of KSK Mahanadi, paving the way for the issuance of fresh expression of interest.

The stay was imposed to allow for consolidating the resolution process of two of KSK Mahanadi's ancillary companies to fetch better value for the companies undergoing the insolvency resolution process.

The insolvency resolution process of KSK Mahandai Power had drawn interest from Adani Power, Vedanta, Naveen Jindal-promoted Jindal Power, and Megha Engineering in the first round.