Page 15 - Banking Finance May 2019 N

ROUNDUP

Monsoons to be well dis- Creditors recover nearly half of total claims in 88 insol-
tributed: Met Dept vency cases
With indications of a milder El Niño Nearly half of their total admitted claims worth over Rs, 1.42 lakh crore have
and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, been recovered by financial and operational creditors
rainfall during the summer monsoon from as many as 88 debt-ridden companies under the
this year is likely to be well-distrib- insolvency law, according to official data.
uted across the country and yield The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) seeks to
India's third consecutive good har- provide market-determined resolution for stressed
vest of kharif crops, the Met office assets in a time-bound manner.
clarified as one of its forecast mod- Claims totalling a little over Rs. 1.42 lakh crore were admitted in 88 cases un-
els still shows the probability of be- der the IBC till February 28, data collected by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy
low-normal rains in June.
Board of India (IBBI) showed. Of the total admitted claims, financial creditors
Based on initial conditions in Febru- sought to recover dues worth Rs. 1.36 lakh crore and operational creditors Rs.
ary, the India Meteorological 6,469 crore.
Department's climate forecast sys- Financial creditors recovered 48.24 per cent of their admitted claims and op-
tem model showed below-normal erational creditors got 48.41 per cent of their admitted claims. The figures are
rainfall for the country in June. How-
with respect to 88 cases, including those where resolution has been completed,
ever, the Met office said the param-
for the period till February 28.
eters have changed significantly now.
"El Niño was warmer in February but Jaitley assures lower taxes and fiscal prudence if NDA
it has become milder now, which will
help the country get normal rain- returns
fall… The model forecast based on The Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition will follow the path of fiscal prudence
initial conditions of April is very dif- and implement policies that will lead to lower tax rates, fi-
ferent," said KJ Ramesh, director nance minister Arun Jaitley said, indicating businesses and
general of IMD. "With positive IOD investors can expect continuity in economic policies if the rul-
(Indian Ocean Dipole) over equato- ing alliance is re-elected.
rial Indian Ocean during the monsoon "I'm quite clear in my mind... at least we had a lot of good
season of 2019, it suggests a normal fiscal prudence and we brought the rates down... if we are in
season with very good spatial rainfall power we will continue the same glide path," Jaitley said at a Confederation of
distribution that should turn into a
Indian Industry event.
third consecutively good kharif sea-
son for the farming community of Uncertainty about the outcome of the general elections that start on 11 April
India." has fuelled concerns over policy continuity and economic growth. Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi, who swept to power in 2014 promising economic prosper-
While the IMD predicted that this ity and millions of jobs, is seeking a second term in office.
year's monsoon rainfall would be
"near normal," the Australian Bu-
reau of Meteorology retained its El Income Tax Dept looking at IBC resolution cases for
Nino alert outlook, saying the possible tax violations
chances of the weather phenomenon The Income Tax Department has sought details of the status and identification of
developing in the coming months is creditors and debtors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to investi-
about 70%, which is almost three gate possible tax violations. Senior IT officials told, that the Mumbai Office of the
times the normal likelihood. How- Director of Intelligence and Criminal Investigation has been in touch with the Na-
ever, the Bureau also said that if El tional Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking minute details of the parties in all such
Niño does develop, it is likely to be cases where it believes that tax violations may have happened. The information on
short-lived and weak. Resolution Professionals (RPs) associated with the cases have also been sought.

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