Some Good, Some Bad

THE SUPREME COURT'S decision to allow the committee of creditors (CoC) to consider UltraTech Cement's bid for Binani Cement under the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) is both good and bad news. Good for creditors because Ultratech's bid price is ` 1,019 crore higher than Dalmia Bharat's ` 6,932 crore. If approved, the Aditya Birla group Ultratech will clear all financial and operational dues in full. The bad news though is that allowing Ultratech to bid for Binani Cement after the time limit ends will set a bad precedent for the new system, which anyways is struggling to resolve the cases within the stipulated 270 days. A quarterly report by the insolvency regulator suggests that of 816 ongoing cases at the end of 30 September, 238 or almost 30 per cent have already exceeded stipulated time. -