KOLKATA: UCO Bank is toying with the possibility to tap an asset reconstruction company (ARC), including the government-backed bad loan aggregator National Asset Reconstruction Company, to handle its exposure in ailing Srei group entities, which are going through a resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
According to Soma Sankara Prasad, MD & CEO, UCO Bank, if any ARC is interested in Srei then banks could get their money upfront instead of having to wait for the resolution process to be complete.
“We have the joint lenders’ meeting this Monday and we will check with other lenders in the consortium what they think about it (going to an ARC). This is one option that we can explore. If any of the ARCs is interested in Srei then we can get cash upfront immediately,” Prasad said while addressing the press on Friday.
The Kolkata bench of NCLT had on October 8 given its approval to start insolvency proceedings against the Srei group companies, including Srei Equipment Finance (SEFL) and Srei Infrastructure Finance (SIFL).
The lenders to the two insolvent Srei firms had recently extended the deadline for submitting resolution plans by 10 days to August 10 following request from three of the prospective bidders. The deadline earlier was July 30. This is the third time that the deadline has been extended.
Big corporates, including Vedanta and Jindal Power and asset reconstruction companies such as Assets Care and Reconstruction Enterprise, JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Company and Asset Reconstruction Company (India) (ARCIL) are some of the names that feature in the provisional list of eligible prospective resolution applicants for the Srei Group companies.
