Mumbai : Ericsson India Pvt Ltd has filed before the National Company Law Tribunal an insolvency case against Reliance Communications Ltd for failing to pay over 1.25 bln rupees in dues, a source in the know of the development told Cogencis. The amount was due to Ericsson India before Jul 31. The case is due for hearing on Sep 26, the source said.
According to the source, Reliance Communications owes over 11 bln rupees to Ericsson India. Ericsson India has also objected to the merger of Reliance Communications with Aircel Ltd, citing non-payment of dues. The tribunal Wednesday started final hearing of petitions for the merger of wireless operations of Reliance Communications with Aircel Ltd and sale of its tower operations to Brookfield Asset Management. The deal is expected to fetch the telecom company around 250 bln rupees, which it will use to repay its debt. The company’s total debt is pegged at 450 bln rupees.
The approval is crucial for the debt-hit Reliance Communications as it had signed a standstill agreement with lenders till September to complete the deal. However, some operational creditors of Reliance Communications and Aircel had objected to the deal. On Aug 14, NCLT had admitted the petitions and set the final hearing date for Wednesday.
