NCLAT rejects Venugopal Dhoot’s plea to include foreign oil assets in Videocon insolvency
In a setback for Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday rejected the group’s plea to include its Brazilian and Indonesian oil and gas assets in the ongoing insolvency proceedings of Videocon Industries and its 12 subsidiaries.
A bench headed by Justice Yogesh Khanna upheld the lenders’ stand that the foreign assets were owned by separate entities such as Videocon Oil Venture Ltd (VOVL) and could not automatically be part of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of Videocon Industries.
The dispute centered around offshore oil and gas assets held through VOVL and its subsidiaries in Brazil and Indonesia. Dhoot argued that since lenders linked to overseas businesses had already made claims through corporate guarantees in Videocon Industries’ bankruptcy cases, the relevant foreign assets should also be included in the bankruptcy estate.
In February 2020, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) accepted Dhoot’s plea and directed the resolution professional to handle overseas assets, liabilities and claims as part of the insolvency process of Videocon Industries. However, NCLAT soon reversed the order following objections from State Bank of India and other lenders.
In its latest judgment, the appellate court reaffirmed that foreign oil and gas assets cannot be merged with Videocon Industries’ CIRP and domestic group companies. It ruled that the overseas assets belonged to separate corporate entities and that the lenders’ commercial decision to exclude them from the consolidated bankruptcy process could not easily be interfered with.
“The creditors designed separate CIRPs for Videocon Industries and Videocon Oil Ventures as they operate in completely different lines of business. This was a commercial decision of the CoC which cannot be interfered with,” NCLAT said.
‘The journey of flip-flops’
The court also highlighted the contradictions in Dhoot’s earlier stance. The report said Dhoot wrote a letter to lenders in 2016 and 2017 requesting that the overseas oil and gas business be “spinned” due to financial stress affecting Videocon Industries’ domestic operations.
“Mr. Dhoot’s entire journey was one of complete indecision,” the court observed, referring to the promoter’s changing stance over the years.
Videocon Group, the once-leading consumer electronics and energy conglomerate, has entered bankruptcy after years of debt-driven growth in its appliances, telecommunications and overseas oil and gas businesses. Heavy borrowing, weak cash flow, mounting losses and the collapse of its telecommunications venture pushed the group into default.
In 2017, the RBI identified Videocon among the top 12 large corporate companies in default due to insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
In June 2018, NCLT accepted SBI’s insolvency claim against Videocon Industries. Later, the insolvency proceedings of Videocon Industries and 12 group companies were consolidated with the claims admitted to approx. ₹64,838 crore. Separately, personal bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against Venugopal Dhoot in April 2026.
In its arguments before the NCLT in 2018, Videocon also cited the government’s sudden decision to withdraw high-value notes from circulation in November 2016. Demonetization, touted as an antidote to unaccounted cash, fake cash and corruption, has led to a major disruption in economic activity.
An email seeking comment from Videocon’s solutions expert Abhijit Guhathakurta remained unanswered at the time of publication. Mint Venugopal Dhoot could not be contacted for comment.
