Vedanta urges NCLT to review Adani’s resolution plan for Jaiprakash Associates

New Delhi: Billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd on Thursday urged the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to review lenders’ decision to approve the winding up of Adani Enterprises Ltd ₹15,000 crore resolution plan for bankrupt Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL).

Terming the approval a “commercial conspiracy”, Vedanta challenged the November 2025 order of the committee of creditors (CoC) in the Allahabad bench of the NCLT and requested the court to send the scheme back to the lenders for reconsideration.

Senior advocate UK Chaudhary, speaking on behalf of Vedanta, told the court that lenders had sidelined the company even though it had emerged as the highest bidder in earlier bidding rounds.

Vedanta claims to have emerged as the highest bidder ₹12,505 crore on a net present value basis at the time of auction.

“This is not commercial wisdom. This is a commercial conspiracy to keep me out by adopting an unfair and non-transparent procedure,” Chaudhary said outside the court.

Vedanta said it did not want to be declared as the successful bidder but wanted the court to examine whether the bidding process was in compliance with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

“Even if we lose after a fair re-evaluation, we will accept it,” Chaudhary told the bench.

According to Vedanta, two days before lenders began voting in November, it filed an addendum that was an update to its earlier proposal and made its preliminary cash payment about ₹3,770 crore ₹6,563 crore. It also doubled capital inflows. ₹400 crore ₹800 crore. Total bid ₹12,505 crore remained unchanged.

Vedanta said lenders refused to consider the revised payment structure, citing violations of bidding rules. The company argued that by ignoring the revised structure, its evaluation score dropped and it was removed from the race even though its total bid remained the same.

The committee of creditors led by State Bank of India defended the process. Lenders said Vedanta’s claims had no legal basis and the insolvency process was being conducted strictly under the IBC.

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The panel of lenders said Vedanta’s request should be rejected. He also pointed out that home buyers did not support Vedanta’s attempt to revise its offer. According to the evaluation matrix, Adani Enterprises scored 70 points while Vedanta scored 58 points.

The lenders argued that if Vedanta had objections to the bidding rules, it should have raised them before participating in the process. “We received a fair offer. We are not canceling the process and going back,” the committee told the court.

The hearing is expected to continue on Friday.

Questions emailed to Vedanta Ltd and Adani Group seeking their responses remained unanswered till the time of publication.

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Adani’s offer

In November, Gautam Adani-backed Adani Enterprises presented its 100+ year resolution plan. ₹15,000 crore before the Allahabad bench of NCLT. The plan was registered by decision expert Bhuvan Madan after receiving approval from the CoC.

The proposal received nearly 93% of the votes from financial creditors in electronic voting that ended on November 18. Under IBC, at least 66% approval is required.

National Asset Reconstruction Co., which has 85.43 percent voting rights after borrowing from banks. Ltd (NARCL) supported the plan. While Asset Care and Reconstruction Enterprise, which represents Yes Bank’s shares, voted against it, some lenders did not vote.

Adani’s plan is rated higher mainly due to its payment structure. Vedanta’s offer is ₹Adani offered 12,505 crore on net present value (NPV) basis ₹6,000 crore upfront and offered to complete the rest within two years. Vedanta’s payments were spread over five years.

The total claims accepted against JAL are as follows: ₹5.44 trillion. Adani’s plan suggests realizable value ₹15,343 crore, which means creditors will recover around 2.8% of their total demands.

If the NCLT approves the plan, Adani will have access to around 3,985 acres of land in Noida and Greater Noida, 6.5 million tonnes of cement capacity in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and 24% stake in Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd.

Also Read | Adani Enterprises gets lenders’ approval to acquire Jaiprakash Associates

JAL was plunged into bankruptcy in June 2024 after defaulting on loans. ₹55,000 crore. The lenders, led by State Bank of India, were later transferred ₹12,700 crore debt to NARCL, making it the largest creditor.

The court will now decide whether the lenders should approve Adani’s plan or send it back for reconsideration as requested by Vedanta.