Videocon bankrupt: Bids invited for debt-ridden firm under insolvency resolution process

Agencies
September 27, 2018

New Delhi: The resolution professional of debt-ridden Videocon Industries on Tuesday invited bids from prospective buyers to take control of the firm, which has interest ranging from consumer electronics to oil and gas.

The corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of Videocon Industries Ltd (VIL), which has debt of around Rs 20,000 crore, was commenced under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) following an order by the NCLT Mumbai on 6 June 2018.

In a public announcement, VIL Resolution Professional (RP) Anuj Jain said insolvency resolution process in respect of 11 group companies of VIL has also commenced and for other four other entities, order is expected to be passed by the NCLT shortly.

In the beginning of this year, the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) had filed separate insolvency proceedings against Videocon Industries and Videocon Telecommunications Ltd.

As per the criteria listed out by the RP, corporates, individuals or consortium of investors must have a minimum consolidated net worth of Rs 2,000 crore at group level in the immediately preceding financial years, and turnover of Rs 1,000 crore at group level during any one of the three immediately preceding financial years.

For financial institutions, PE funds, asset reconstruction companies, NBFCs, other financial investors, including consortium of investors, minimum asset under management must be Rs 2,000 crore in the immediately preceding financial year or committed funds available for deployment/ investment of at least Rs 2,000 crore as on 31 March 2018.

It would be mandatory for prospective resolution applicants to submit their bid before 5 October 2018, Jain said in the announcement.

The RP also said prospective bidders must have evidence to showcase experience in the running of large industrial businesses, preferably consumer electronics, and/or oil and gas during any three of the preceding financial years.

The bidders must also have the ability to turnaround large industrial business preferably consumer electronics business either directly or through joint venture.

In its heydays, Videocon was known for its consumer durables business. It then diversified into oil and gas, DTH and telecom sectors, with the latter two ventures proving to be unsuccessful.

The company then sold off its DTH business to Dish TV and telecom business to Airtel.

The Videocon Group is under investigation for alleged quid-pro-quo over Rs 3,250 crore loan by ICICI bank to it in 2012. The bank had also ordered an independent probe into allegations of 'conflict of interest' and 'quid pro quo' in bank's MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar's role.

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News Network
December 22,2025

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received ₹6,654.93 crore in donations during the 2024-25 financial year — a Lok Sabha election year — registering a 68 per cent increase over the previous fiscal.

In its annual contribution report submitted to the Election Commission on December 8, two days ahead of the deadline, the BJP disclosed all donations exceeding ₹20,000. The report, now available on the Commission’s website, covers contributions received between April 1, 2024 and March 30, 2025 — a period marked by the general election and Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Delhi.

The BJP, the world’s largest political party by membership, had reported donations of ₹3,967 crore in 2023-24. The latest figures represent the party’s highest donation receipts in the last five years.

Electoral trusts accounted for around 40 per cent of the BJP’s total donations. The Prudent Electoral Trust contributed ₹2,180 crore, followed by the Progressive Electoral Trust with ₹757 crore and the New Democratic Electoral Trust with ₹150 crore. Contributions from other electoral trusts together amounted to ₹3,112.5 crore. The remaining funds came from corporate donors and individuals. Electoral trusts are entities set up by companies to channel donations to political parties.

Among major corporate contributors, Serum Institute of India donated ₹100 crore, Rungta Sons Private Limited ₹95 crore, Vedanta ₹67 crore, and Macrotech Developers (formerly Lodha Developers) ₹65 crore. Three Bajaj Group companies together contributed ₹65 crore, while Derive Investments donated ₹50 crore.

Other notable donors included Malabar Gold (₹10 crore), Kalyan Jewellers (₹15.1 crore), Hero Group (₹23.65 crore), Dilip Buildcon Group (₹29 crore), ITC Limited (₹35 crore), Wave Industries (₹5.25 crore) and Zerodha’s investment firm, promoted by Nikhil Kamath, which contributed ₹1.5 crore.

Several BJP leaders also made individual donations. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma donated ₹3 lakh, Assam minister Pijush Hazarika ₹2.75 lakh, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan ₹1 lakh, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ₹5 lakh, Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava ₹1 lakh, and Akash Vijayvargiya, son of senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, also donated ₹1 lakh, among others.

In contrast, most opposition parties reported a sharp decline in donations. The Congress received ₹522.13 crore in 2024-25, a fall of about 43 per cent from ₹1,129 crore in the previous year. The Trinamool Congress saw donations drop to ₹184.08 crore from ₹618.8 crore, while the Bharat Rashtra Samithi reported just ₹15.09 crore, down from ₹580 crore.

The Aam Aadmi Party, however, recorded an increase, collecting ₹39.2 crore compared to ₹22.1 crore last year. The Telugu Desam Party received ₹85.2 crore in donations, down from ₹274 crore, but also earned ₹102 crore through fees and subscriptions. The Biju Janata Dal reported ₹60 crore in donations, compared to ₹246 crore in the previous fiscal.

The 2024-25 financial year is also the first without electoral bonds, after the Supreme Court struck down the scheme as unconstitutional in February 2024. Since its introduction in 2018, the electoral bond scheme had enabled political parties to receive over ₹16,000 crore in anonymous donations, with the BJP receiving the largest share. 

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