In a setback to Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday rejected his request to include the group’s Brazilian and Indonesian oil and gas assets in the ongoing insolvency proceedings of Videocon Industries and its 12 affiliates.
A bench led by Justice Yogesh Khanna upheld the lenders’ stand that the foreign assets belonged to separate entities such as Videocon Oil Venture Ltd (VOVL) and could not automatically be a part of Videocon Industries’ corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP).
The dispute centred around overseas oil and gas assets held through VOVL and its subsidiaries in Brazil and Indonesia. Dhoot argued that since lenders connected to those overseas businesses had already filed claims in Videocon Industries’ insolvency proceedings through corporate guarantees, the corresponding foreign assets should also be included in the insolvency estate.
In February 2020, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) accepted Dhoot’s plea and directed the resolution professional to treat the overseas assets, liabilities and claims as part of Videocon Industries’ insolvency process. However, the NCLAT stayed that order shortly afterwards, following appeals by State Bank of India and other lenders.
The appellate tribunal, in its latest ruling, reaffirmed that the foreign oil and gas assets could not be merged with the CIRP of Videocon Industries and its domestic group companies. It held that the overseas assets belonged to separate corporate entities and that the lenders’ commercial decision to keep them outside the consolidated insolvency process could not be interfered with lightly.
“The creditors intended separate CIRPs for Videocon Industries and Videocon Oil Ventures as they operated in entirely different businesses. This was a commercial decision of the CoC which cannot be interfered with,” the NCLAT said.
‘Journey of flip-flops’
The tribunal also highlighted contradictions in Dhoot’s earlier position. It noted that in 2016 and 2017, Dhoot himself had written to lenders requesting that the overseas oil and gas business be “ring-fenced” from the financial stress affecting Videocon Industries’ domestic operations.
“The entire journey by Mr Dhoot has been of flip-flops” the tribunal observed, referring to the promoter’s changing stand over the years.
Videocon Group, once a leading consumer electronics and energy conglomerate, entered insolvency after years of debt-driven expansion across appliances, telecom and overseas oil and gas businesses. Heavy borrowing, weak cash flows, mounting losses and the collapse of its telecom venture pushed the group into default.
In 2017, RBI identified Videocon among the first 12 large corporate defaulters for insolvency action under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
In June 2018, the NCLT admitted SBI’s insolvency plea against Videocon Industries. Later, insolvency proceedings of Videocon Industries and 12 group companies were consolidated, with admitted claims of about ₹64,838 crore. Separately, personal insolvency proceedings were initiated against Venugopal Dhoot in April 2026.
In its arguments before the NCLT in 2018, Videocon also blamed its troubles on the government’s abrupt decision to withdraw high-value currency notes from circulation in November 2016. Touted as the antidote to unaccounted cash, counterfeit cash and corruption, demonetisation led to a massive disruption in economic activity.
An email seeking comment from Abhijit Guhathakurta, the resolution professional of Videocon, remained unanswered at the time of publishing. Mint was unable to contact Venugopal Dhoot for comment.