GTL Infra gets NCLT breather

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Friday dismissed the bankruptcy proceedings against GTL Infrastructure, a telecom tower firm and its associate company GTL, saying both the companies are financially viable and have enough cash flow to repay their debt.

In two separate orders, the NCLT’S Mumbai bench said GTL Infrastructure has repaid ~16,915 crore to its lenders between 2011 and 2018, which shows the company is reasonably healthy and can repay its sustainable debt. The company generates monthly revenues of ~120 crore, which is net of taxes, the order dated November 18 said.

The court said several companies owe GTL Infrastructure money as it has made claims of ~13,393 crore against Aircel and others. “Further, the tribunal has directed to pay ~900 crore to the corporate debtor. Moreover, the company has to recover ~49.84 crore from Tata Teleservices; ~20.38 crore from ATC, and ~351 crore from BSNL in pending arbitration proceedings.

The amount received would be sufficient to repay the debt of the petitioner (Canara Bank),” the court said in its order. After the Supreme Court’s judgement in 2021 that cancelled 2G-based telecom licences, several telecom companies did not pay their tower rentals to GTL Infrastructure— leading to financial stress. GTL Infrastructure currently provides services to Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel.

The court said the company’s business is sustainable and is a viable concern under the current management, and the overall financial health of the company is not bad enough to be admitted under bankruptcy. “The adjudicated and unadjudicated claims of GTL Infrastructure are far more than the debt claimed in the petition,” the court said, while dismissing Canara Bank’s petition.

GTL currently provides services to Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel