‘Cases by banks not over personal borrowings’
2 min read . Updated: 24 Jun 2020, 06:28 AM IST- Anil Ambani says lawsuits by some lenders pertained to corporate loans
- SBI moved the NCLT to recover ₹1,200 crore from Ambani against loans taken by RCom
MUMBAI : Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group, on Tuesday said that the lawsuits by certain banks were not over personal borrowings, as claimed by some lenders, but for corporate loans.
Speaking to shareholders in the annual general meeting (AGM) of Reliance Power, Ambani said he was defending himself against the claims and firmly believed that “upon the resolution of RCom (Reliance Communications) and RITL’s (Reliance Infratel) debt, as per their resolution plans filed before National Company Law Tribunal, a significant proportion, if not the whole, of the said debts, will stand discharged and all these matters satisfactorily resolved".
In June, State Bank of India moved the NCLT to recover ₹1,200 crore from Ambani against loans taken by RCom, a group company. SBI moved the NCLT under Section 97(3) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), seeking its intervention to direct the insolvency board to nominate a resolution professional (RP).
Ambani is also fending off a London high court order in May asking him to repay $716 million (around ₹5,000 crore) to three Chinese banks—an amount he had raised for RCom through personal guarantees.
“As regards this claim of the Chinese banks, the loan in respect of which the proceedings have been initiated was not for any personal borrowing, but a corporate loan, which was availed by the telecom company, Reliance Communications, in the normal course of business eight years ago in 2012 from a consortium of three Chinese banks—Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the China Development Bank, and the Export-Import Bank of China –for global refinancing," he said.
Anil Ambani said the guarantee on the basis of which the claim was made was not signed by him and that he had only signed a power of attorney limited to executing a non-binding letter of comfort to the Chinese banks. His defence has been “shut out by the UK courts on the inability to personally deposit a sum of $100 million", Ambani said.
He added that while the final amount owed under the alleged guarantee is assessed, based on the outcome of the RCom insolvency resolution process, he will avail all available legal remedies in India to protect his interests.
The three Chinese banks said they had provided a total loan of $925.2 million to RCom in 2012 on the agreement that Ambani provide a personal guarantee.
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