Moser Baer Solar Ltd is heading for liquidation after the debt-laden company failed to get any insolvency resolution plan from any buyer within the mandated 270 days.
The principal bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), chaired by Justice MM Kumar, directed the company to go under liquidation on May 30 and appointed Arvind Garg as the liquidator.
Moser Baer Solar is a subsidiary of optical storage media maker Moser Baer India Ltd, which is also undergoing liquidation. Moser Baer India was founded by Deepak Puri and was one of the world's biggest makers of optical storage devices a decade ago.
As computer technologies changed, the group shifted its focus to other businesses such as solar power and even received private equity funding from the likes of Blackstone. But the group never managed to regain its lost glory.
Moser Baer Solar was admitted for insolvency proceeding on November 14, 2017 after state-run Central Bank of India filed a plea for total claims of Rs 1,411 crore.
The New Delhi-based company owed a total of Rs 2,707.57 crore to its financial creditors. Its liquidation value was assessed at Rs 72.425 crore.
The company failed to receive any resolution plan despite inviting bids several times.
In its order, the NCLT said that it had made it clear on the day of the final hearing of the case, on May 22, that that once the period of 270 days expired in October 2018, there would be "no escape from the end result" that liquidation had to follow.
The tribunal also directed the liquidator to ensure that Moser Baer Solar's business is continued during the liquidation process. The liquidator will have to submit a preliminary report to the NCLT within 75 days from the liquidation commencement date.