Bids for bankrupt Moser Baer Solar expected this week

In November 2017, the Indian manufacturer and EPC contractor was taken to the New Delhi bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code by the state-run Central Bank of India, after it defaulted on an over Rs 114-crore loan.

Speaking to pv magazine, Garg expressed hope that India’s 10 to 12 large solar manufacturers will show interest in Moser Baer Solar Limited (MBSL), which has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Noida’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

“India’s solar industry is growing at a rapid pace and there is increasing confidence in the solar sector’s growth story. Hence, I am expecting very good response,” Garg said. The last date for submission of EoIs has been extended from April 16 to April 30, 2018. “Once we receive the EoIs, the companies will have 30 days to submit a resolution plan. NCLT will have the last word on the bidders and resolution plan,” he added.

According to its website, MBSL currently manufactures 185 MW of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells, 200 MW of c-Si modules and 50 MW of amorphous silicon thin film modules.

According to the Expression of Interest, Eligibility Criteria posted on MBSL’s, the Corporate Debtor, Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL), is currently under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), as per the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). Devendra Singh has been appointed Resolution Professional (RP) for the Corporate Debtor.

MBSL and Moser Baer Photovoltaic (MBPV) are subsidiaries of Moser Baer India Limited (MBIL). MBSL was set up in 2005 and soon became a leading name in the fields of solar EPC and module manufacturing.

The company has been in financial distress for several years now. In October 2016, it revealed that efforts to restructure its debts had failed and that it had received default notices from several of its creditors.

Last September, when MBSL asked the Central Bank of India to postpone its loan repayment schedule – claiming its business prospects had been damaged by a deluge of cheap Chinese PV modules onto the Indian market – India’s Financial Express reported that the company’s total debts were around INR 10 billion, with a little less than INR 1 billion owed to the central bank.

Most recently, in November 2017, after the NCLT accepted the company’s bankruptcy plea, the board was dissolved.

By Preeti Verma Lal