Religare Finvest pays back Rs 837 cr to lenders in March

Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), which is under the RBI's prompt corrective action framework, repaid Rs 837 crore dues to lenders last month, according to sources.

A large part of the total repayment came from the timely collection of standard assets and foreclosure of some of the loan accounts, the sources said.

RFL has so far recovered about Rs 6,450 crore since January 2018 from both standard and non-standard accounts and has made payments to the lenders, despite being constrained by the corrective action plan of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), sources said.

Last year, the RBI put this non-banking financial company (NBFC) under the PCA framework due to deteriorating financial health of the firm.

For non-standard accounts or non-performing assets (NPAs), the company has been aggressive in its litigation challenges and has managed to recover a substantial portion of the NPA amount stuck in litigation through legal recovery, the sources said.

The company also sold some of the stressed assets to asset reconstruction firms and reduced the level of non-performing assets (NPAs).

As part of the revival plan, the company is looking at a debt resolution plan with the support of the banks and regulators.

The RBI earlier this year halted the proposal to sell stake of RFL by promoter Religare Enterprises Ltd to the TCG Advisory Pvt Ltd, part of Purnendu Chatterjee's The Chatterjee Group (TCG).

The company is in financial distress due to alleged misappropriation of funds by erstwhile promoters Shivinder Singh and his brother Malvinder Singh. Multiple investigative agencies are probing the case financial bungling.