National Company Law Tribunal benches must be in proportion to firms

New Delhi, March 19: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) adjudicating on insolvency cases requires superior infrastructure that allows NCLT benches to be set up in proportion to the state-wise number of companies active in the region, state-run State Bank of India said on Monday.

While the Central government has set up 11 benches of the NCLT, there are currently about 11 lakh active companies, according to the latest SBI Ecowrap report authored by Chief Economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh.

Of the 11 NCLT benches, two are in Delhi including the principal bench, and one each at Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.

"We suggest that the number of NCLT benches be set up in proportion to state wise active companies operating in the region," said SBI, some of whose large non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, have already been referred to the NCLT.