Bond Defaults Are Highest on Record as India’s Economy Slows
Indian companies have defaulted on a record $1.2 billion of bonds so far in 2019 after the NBFC crisis triggered a credit squeeze
(Bloomberg) -- Indian companies have defaulted on a record 76 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) of local-currency and international bonds so far this year after the shadow bank crisis triggered a credit squeeze, and it doesn’t look like the worst is over.
Those firms that delayed or missed debt payments in 2019 still have the equivalent of $17 billion of notes and loans outstanding including the defaulted securities, according to company documents, exchange filings and data compiled by Bloomberg.
In the latest instance, tycoon Anil Ambani’s Reliance Capital Ltd. said it informed exchanges late Wednesday that it delayed servicing on bond obligations that were due Oct. 22.
Strains in India’s credit markets following the IL&FS Group’s collapse in 2018 shut access to funding for domestic borrowers, increasing the pace of corporate defaults. A slowdown in the nation’s economic expansion to a six-year low of 5% in the quarter ended June is also hurting companies.
Following are the top companies that missed or delayed debt payments in 2019:
| Company | Outstanding debt (billion rupees) |
| Dewan Housing | 488 |
| Reliance Capital | 380 |
| Suzlon Energy | 132.1 |
| Jet Airways | 84.6 |
--With assistance from Divya Patil and P R Sanjai.
To contact the reporters on this story: Anurag Joshi in Mumbai at ajoshi53@bloomberg.net;Rahul Satija in Mumbai at rsatija1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Monahan at amonahan@bloomberg.net, Ken McCallum, Denise Wee
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