HSBC asked to recover dues from DCM Hyundai

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JULY 5. The Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AIFR) has allowed Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd. (HSBC) to initiate proceedings before the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) for recovery of dues worth nearly Rs. 13 crores from the ailing container maker DCM Hyundai.

Stating that the ``secured creditors cannot be deprived of their just rights to take appropriate steps for realisation of their dues unreasonably or indefinitely,'' the AIFR set aside an order of Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), declining HSBC permission to move DRT against DCM Hyundai.

The AIFR felt that the BIFR was not justified in denying HSBC the permission while allowing another creditor Indian Bank to move DRT against DCM Hyundai.

The company has been under BIFR fold since July 1998. Though the management of the company came out with a revamp proposal way back in 1999, banks and institutions were not willing to stretch themselves beyond what the Reserve Bank of India had prescribed. Subsequently, the BIFR has asked the operating agency - ICICI - to scout for a new promoter. Surprisingly enough, it had elicited no response. The existing promoters, in the meantime, came out with a fresh revamp plan. Strangely, the relief sought under the scheme far exceeded the cost of the proposal itself. And, the fate of the company continues to hang in balance.

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Section  : Business
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