The government will push for a bankruptcy law in parliament in the remaining three days of the winter session, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday, hoping to end a political deadlock.
"I am going to be pushing for the insolvency and the bankruptcy law before Parliament in the next three days," the minister said in a speech at an industry event in New Delhi, calling the next three sessions "crucial" for passing key bills.
The new law would be the most ambitious overhaul to date of rules governing the liquidation or revival of companies in India, a country with no single bankruptcy code and where competing laws, unclear jurisdictions and inadequate resources can leave cases languishing for decades.
Cases such as the protracted collapse of liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airline empire have burnt investors. The airline was grounded in 2012 with some $1.5 billion in debt and its shares are now worthless, but creditor banks seized his former Mumbai headquarters only this year. The fate of his Goan villa is stuck in a prolonged court tussle.
India ranks 130 out of 189 in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business report, below Lesotho and Cameroon, not least because of its poor performance in resolving insolvency.
