Padmini is long gone, but Premier lands in court
MUMBAI: Two decades since the last Premier Padmini rolled off its factory, the maker of the iconic sedan is staring at the end of the road.
After decades of dominating India’s roads, along with Hindustan Motors Ltd’s Ambassador model, the Padmini bowed out in 1997, making way for modern Japanese, Korean and American cars. In the two decades that followed, Premier Ltd made an unsuccessful foray into engineering, arriving finally at the bankruptcy court last month for defaulting on dues of ₹52 crore. State-run Corporation Bank has approached the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to recover dues from Pune-based Premier, said a person aware of the matter. The matter is yet to be listed for a hearing.
“The dues include the principal amount of ₹31.17 crore and interest. The bank had declared the company a nonperforming asset sometime in May 2016,” the person cited above said on condition of anonymity. “The bank has also suggested Atul Jain, partner of audit and consulting firm GMJ and Co., as interim resolution professional in its petition filed in the tribunal.”
Premier did not respond to a query from Mint.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Premier said it had talks with Corporation Bank since it received the insolvency notice, including on December 11, 2018 to arrive at an amicable settlement. “Company has initiated steps to monetize its land assets in order to reduce its debt and is hopeful of completing the same by the end of the current financial year,” it added.
“Corporation Bank has indicated to the company that it is open to considering an amicable settlement and the company is taking the requisite actions in this regard to achieve the same,” Premier said, adding that it is also in talks with “Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd, its majority secured debt holder, for a comprehensive restructuring plan”. Nishit Dhruva, managing partner of law firm MDP and Partners, which is representing the lender, confirmed approaching NCLT.