NCLT orders liquidation of EPC firm CCCL

The Chennai bench of the NCLT has pronounced initiation of liquidation process against Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited (CCCL), a Chennai-based Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company.

CCCL was dragged to insolvency court in 2021 by the State Bank of India when the former defaulted on a payment of Rs 676 crore. The company owes Rs 2,504 crore to various creditors including Rs 2,400 crore to financial creditors.

The company was engaged in commercial, infrastructural and industrial constructions. CCCL has built several marque infrastructure projects like IT Parks, biotech parks, resorts and hotels, commercial, industrial & institutional structures and infrastructure facilities. R Sarabeswar was the promoter, chairman and chief executive officer at the time of the company entering corporate insolvency resolution process.

In 2003, SBI sanctioned various credit facilities and between 2003 and 2014, the bank extended 1,000s of crores of loan to the company. However, in 2013-14, the company faced huge setbacks across India which resulted in loan accounts being rendered irregular. CCCL promoters then made an application for restructuring of loans. Debtors agreed and signed an agreement for corporate debt restructuring in March of 2014. Subsequently, lenders sanctioned credit facilities worth Rs 984 crore.

In June 2015, the members of the consortium of banks converted Rs 82.50 crore worth of debt into equity. Later under the RBI’s Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4), loans amounting to Rs 517 crore were declared unsustainable and were converted into Optional Convertible Debentures (OCD), and of which Rs 318 were apportioned to the financial creditors. However, despite CDR and S4 scheme’s the financial position of CCCL continue to worsen, and lenders could realise a small amount of the outstanding dues.

The promoters of CCCL in 2018 offered to go for One-time Settlement of Rs 328 crore loan, and lenders agreed on a settlement amount of Rs 180 crore later in 2019. However, all the said proposals were not brought into effect by the corporate debtor.

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