The ghost of Videocon continues to haunt banks

Four years after the company entered the bankruptcy process, there is little hope of lenders recovering even a fraction of their dues

The government’s plan to privatize IDBI Bank hinges on its ability to sell the lender’s remarkable turnaround story to prospective investors. The bank is on track to record its third straight year of profits after a stretch of four years, during which it suffered losses adding up to over Rs 40,000 crore. The slate, one would think, has been cleaned, allowing the government to start the disinvestment process earlier this week

But there’s an overhang. That of Videocon Industries Ltd, the once profitable business owned by Venugopal Dhoot, which entered the bankruptcy process in 2018. Of VIL’s Rs 62,000 …

Author

Advait Palepu

Advait is a financial journalist and a former writer at The Morning Context. Here, he wrote on India’s banks, the wider financial services industry and the fintech ecosystem. He has previously worked with the Economic and Political Weekly, Business Standard, BloombergQuint and MediaNama, where he covered everything from the Reserve Bank of India to fintech policy.

Writer

advait@mailtmc.com

Mumbai