NARCL Withdraws Its Insolvency Bid Against McLeod Russel
A tribunal dismissed the insolvency case NARCL inherited from HDFC Bank, clearing the immediate legal threat while McLeod Russel's debt restructuring and Assam garden sales remain unfinished.
McLeod Russel India said the National Company Law Tribunal's Kolkata bench has dismissed as withdrawn the insolvency application filed against the company, after the applicant creditor withdrew it.
The company disclosed to stock exchanges that it received notice of the order on or about July 14, 2026. The application had been filed under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, originally by HDFC Bank Limited, over an alleged default of about Rs 444.55 crore (about US$51 million, at roughly Rs 87.5 to the US dollar). It was later assigned to the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) after a majority of the company's lenders assigned their loans to NARCL in 2025. NARCL, acting through its attorney India Debt Resolution Company Limited, sought the withdrawal.
The dismissal is conditional. The tribunal dismissed the application as withdrawn, with liberty to revive it if the restructuring process fails.
The withdrawal follows a sanction letter dated April 2, 2026, in which NARCL agreed to restructure the company's debt. Under that letter, McLeod Russel's sustainable debt to NARCL is set at Rs 1,050 crore (about US$120 million), due by February 15, 2029.
Part of that resolution is to be funded by asset sales already disclosed. On April 29, 2026, the board approved executing memoranda of understanding to sell three Assam tea estates: Nya Gogra Tea Estate to Bengal Tea & Fabrics Limited for Rs 44.79 crore (about US$5.1 million), Rupajuli Tea Estate to Khona Tea Estate LLP for Rs 16.76 crore (about US$1.9 million), and Boroi Tea Estate to Jatinga Agro-Tech for Rs 27.30 crore (about US$3.1 million). The company said at the time that those transactions remained subject to due diligence and regulatory approval.
The insolvency case had run alongside a separate warning over the company's accounts: in June, auditors flagged a material uncertainty about McLeod Russel's ability to continue as a going concern in its FY26 results (more).
The tribunal's order removes the immediate legal threat. It does not complete the restructuring, and the garden sales that are meant to fund part of it have not been reported as closed.
McLeod Russel traces its origins to 1869 and the formation of Williamson Magor & Co., set up to serve Assam's early tea estates, and has long been run by the Khaitan family. It was once described as the world's largest tea-growing company by area, before selling a large share of its estates between 2019 and 2020 to pay down debt.
Sources: Business Standard, NARCL withdraws insolvency bid, paves way for McLeod Russel garden sale; ScanX, NCLT dismisses NARCL insolvency plea against McLeod Russel; Reuters via TradingView, McLeod Russel India says NARCL withdraws insolvency application against co; Business Standard, McLeod Russel India to sell three Assam tea gardens to repay debt.