UCO Bank Declares Yashovardhan Birla As Wilful Defaulter

UCO Bank has declared Yashovardhan Birla as a wilful defaulter for non-payment of Rs 67.55 crore loan given to Birla Surya Ltd, a maker of solar photovoltaic cells. The bank has filed a suit to recover the amount from the defaulter, according to the information available on the UCO Bank website.

According to a public notice, Birla Surya Ltd. was sanctioned a credit limit of Rs 100 crore for fund-based facilities—for the purpose of manufacturing multi-crystalline solar photovoltaic cells—from UCO Bank's corporate branch at Nariman Point in Mumbai.

"Due to non-repayment of dues to the bank, the Birla Surya account was declared non-performing asset on June 3, 2013. The borrower has not repaid the dues owed to the bank despite several notices. The borrower company and its directors, promoters, guarantors were declared as wilful defaulters by the bank and their name reported to the credit information companies for public information," the notice said.

According to the Reserve Bank of India’s instructions, once declared a wilful defaulter, the borrower is not sanctioned any additional facilities by financial institutions and is barred from floating new ventures for five years. Lenders can also initiate criminal proceedings against the company and its directors.

UCO Bank has issued a list 665 wilful defaulters and their total outstanding amount.

Other prominent names in UCO Bank's wilful defaulters list include Zoom Developers (Rs 309.50 crore), First Leasing Company of India (Rs 142.94 crore), Moser Baer India (Rs 122.15 crore) and Surya Vinayak Industries (Rs 107.81 crore).