The deadline for submission of binding bids for stressed engineering company Punj LloydNSE 4.55 % has been extended by 10 days to August 24 because no offers were made, said a person with knowledge of the matter. Punj Lloyd owes banks Rs 12,689 crore.
As many as 10 entities including Sterlite Power, Welspun Enterprises, International Asset Reconstruction Co (IARC), Rare ARC, Eight Capital and a Singapore-based engineering company are understood to have submitted expressions of interest (EoIs). Bidders were required to submit binding offers by August 14. That deadline has been extended, according to the company’s website. Ashwini Mehra of Duff & Phelps is the resolution professional.
A contractor offering services in energy and infrastructure as well as engaged in defence manufacturing, Punj Lloyd was admitted by the NCLT principal bench in March after ICICI Bank referred it to the insolvency court for defaulting on a Rs 853.83 crore loan.
SFIO Probe on
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) began examining the company for alleged criminal dealings in July. This was one of six cases in which the government had ordered a probe in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
The company’s most recent orders include a Rs 120-crore contract from the ministry of home affairs and a ?478-crore EPC railway doubling project in Rajasthan — both were won in 2017.
Last year, another EPC company Lanco Infratech was taken to bankruptcy court. Lanco Infra owes lenders Rs 45,000 crore. Another EPC company, Era Infrastructure, was part of the Reserve Bank of India’s first list of defaulters. That case hasn’t been resolved yet.
