NCLT extends Punj Lloyd's liquidation by 6 months

New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) The insolvency tribunal NCLT has extended the deadline to complete the liquidation process of engineering and construction firm Punj Lloyd by six months to March 12, 2026.

The NCLT has granted an extension after considering that debt-ridden Punj Lloyd is currently executing several projects, some of which are critical and vital for the nation's growth.

Moreover, the sale of Punj Lloyd as a whole 'as a going concern' would result in value maximisation, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) observed.

The liquidator of Punj Lloyd had moved an application before the NCLT, seeking extension of the deadline as it is currently executing various projects, which are critical for the nation's growth and safety, like projects with NPCIL and NHAI.

For the successful completion of these projects, it is critical that the going concern status of the corporate debtor is not affected, he submitted.

Agreeing to it, the NCLT said: "Considering the averments made in the application and the submissions made by the Counsel, we allow the extension of time of six months -- till March 12, 2026, for completing the liquidation process".

"Liquidator is directed to complete the liquidation process within the extended time," said the order passed on September 23, 2025.

Meanwhile, in a regulatory filing, Punl Lloyd informed BSE that its 'Stakeholders Consultation Committee' is scheduled to be held on October 13, 2025, "to discuss the way forward in the liquidation sale process of the company (including the sale of the company on a going concern basis)".

In its plea, the liquidator submitted that Punj Lloyd has vast experience successfully engineering and implementing large turnkey projects in India and overseas across different sectors like road, nuclear power projects, thermal power projects, gas pipelines, manufacturing process plants and other heavy civil engineering projects.

"The new buyer undergoing a concern sale would be able to take benefits of the highly skilled and specialised workforce of the corporate debtor, along with its vast engineering experience across different sectors," the application said.

Moreover, it is currently providing direct employment to approximately 304 people and indirect employment to around 1,000 people.

"Under the going concern sale, the prospective buyer would be able to absorb the majority of the direct employees of the corporate debtor (Punj Lloyd) and hence, the livelihood of all these people would be protected," it said.

In March 2019, the Principal Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had admitted an insolvency plea against the company filed by ICICI Bank.

At that time, Punj Lloyd had a total debt of around Rs 6,000 crore, of which ICICI Bank had a debt of around Rs 854 crore.

Other lenders like SBI had then opposed ICICI Bank's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) plea against Punj Lloyd in 2018, arguing for debt restructuring over insolvency to protect ongoing projects and enable recovery.

In June 2022, the NCLT had directed to initiate the liquidation of Punj Lloyd after the lenders of the company could not find a buyer and rejected the revival plan submitted by a consortium of Prudent ARC and Payard Investments.

Its liquidator failed to attract any buyer in the e-auctions conducted by them. PTI KRH KRH BAL BAL