In what could add to the troubles of Anil Ambani-owned shipbuilder Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited, RFID solutions provider—Markss Infotech— has moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) with an insolvency petition against the company. The Ahmedabad bench of NCLT has now issued a notice to the shipbuilder and kept the matter for further hearing on December 14 while providing it two-weeks to file objections in this regard, if any.
Notably, the corporate debtor owes an amount of Rs 51.10 lakh to Markss Infotech, which includes a principal amount of Rs 44.55 lakh and interest of Rs 6.54 lakh, for the development, supply, and installation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and barcode-based warehouse management. It is the contention of the petitioner company that despite several notices, the corporate debtor has not cleared its dues and therefore, it had to file an insolvency petition before NCLT to recover the dues.
As per the petition, Markss Infotech had completed the work assigned to it by the shipbuilder and raised nine invoices for the work executed amounting to Rs 59.55 lakh. Out of the total amount, the corporate debtor had paid Rs 10 lakh on November 8, 2017, and Rs 5 lakh on December 8, 2017. Advocate Vishal Dave appearing for Markss Infotech told DNA that the shipbuilder has failed to clear the dues on time despite notices. Therefore, an application to initiate a corporate insolvency resolution process under Section 9 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has been moved before NCLT, he added.
Notably, IDBI Bank limited has also dragged the shipbuilder to the bankruptcy court for loan default. The corporate debtor owes over Rs 5,300 crore to lenders out of which dues to IDBI Bank is about Rs 1,250 crore. The corporate debtor has been facing financial troubles due to a downtrend in the commercial shipbuilding sector, cancellation of contracts, and cost overrun of projects under construction.
MONEY MATTERS
- The corporate debtor owes an amount of Rs 51.10 lakh to Markss Infotech, which includes a principal amount of Rs 44.55 lakh and interest of Rs 6.54 lakh, for the development, supply, and installation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and barcode-based warehouse management.
- It is the contention of the petitioner company that despite several notices, the corporate debtor has not cleared its dues
