New Delhi: Authorities at Delhi airport on Sunday detained debt-ridden Hanung Toys promoter Ashok Kumar Bansal and his wife Anju Bansal following a lookout notice issued by the Punjab National Bank.
Hanung Toys and Textile Ltd owes Rs 2,300 crore to a consortium of 15 lenders led by the State-owned PNB, which alone has exposure of Rs 599 crore. Several members of the consortium have already declared the company a wilful defaulter.
PNB had issued 13 LOCs, including one against the promoter of Hanung Toys, on Saturday, sources said. Acting on the LOC, the authorities detained the Bansals while they were coming from Dubai on Sunday morning, sources said.
In a bid to prevent big economic offenders from fleeing the country, the government late last year empowered public sector banks to request for lookout circulars against wilful defaulters and fraudsters. An LOC is valid for a year unless its duration is specified.
A corporate debt restructuring plan crafted four years ago failed to take off as Ashok Bansal, chairman and managing director of the company, could not bring in his share of equity at Rs 82 crore. That led to an increase in outstanding dues to Rs 2,300 crore.
The RBI has scrapped all such debt restructuring schemes, mandating a time-bound resolution of bad loans failing which the borrower must be taken to the dedicated insolvency resolution courts.
The company’s production units comprise facilities to make toys, home furnishings and textiles in Roorkee, Bhiwandi and Noida. The toys manufacturing units were set up in the Noida Special Economic Zone.
The bank has taken several steps to improve its recovery. Cash recovery of the bank stood at Rs 2,305 crore during the quarter ended June 2019.
