Dhoot family offers to clear 30k cr bank loans

New Delhi: The Dhoot family has offered to pay Rs 30,000 crore to lenders to settle their outstanding loans and pull out 13 Videocon group companies from the insolvency proceedings.

A proposal for paying the amount has been forwarded to the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of the Videocon Industries, said Venugopal Dhoot, who was the Chairman and Managing Director of the suspended board of Videocon Industries. The company's board was suspended following initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The Dhoot family -- erstwhile promoters of the group -- expects a final decision on the settlement offer by the end of this year, provided the lenders and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) agree to it. The settlement offer has been made for 13 out of the 15 Videocon group companies that are currently under CIRP. Two group companies -- KAIL and TREND -- are not covered under the offer. The Mumbai bench of NCLT has clubbed the 15 group companies together to speed up the resolution process as well as ensure better value.

"I expect the final decision to be taken within the next 30 to 60 days," Dhoot said. Under Section 12A of the IBC, the tribunal can permit withdrawal of an ongoing insolvency process against a company subject to certain conditions. The resolution professional concerned has to move a proposal for withdrawal of insolvency process with the approval of 90 per cent members having voting rights in the Committee of Creditors (CoC). Dhoot said the latest proposal under Section 12A is similar to the one which was made in October 2017 and approved by Joint Lenders' Forum and recommended to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"As per our original proposal of October 2017, the total debt, for which restructuring was considered was for Rs 31,289 crore ie. without any haircut in the original proposal," he said. 

The total debt, for which restructuring was considered, was for Rs 31,289 crore ie. without any haircut in the original proposal. I expect the final decision to be taken within the next 30 to 60 days.

– Venugopal Dhoot, former CMD, Videocon Industries