Atibir Industries to Pay ₹375 Crore in SBI Loan Settlement, Supreme Court Rules

The Supreme Court has directed Atibir Industries Co. Ltd. to pay a further ₹125 crore within 12 weeks to settle its loan dispute with the State Bank of India, taking the total to ₹375 crore. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana delivered the judgment, written by Justice Mohana, in Atibir Industries v. State Bank of India, as reported by LiveLaw on 30 October 2026. The company has already paid ₹250 crore, the price at which SBI assigned the debt to an asset reconstruction company (ARC).

Title Deeds Come Back Within Four Weeks

Once the full amount reaches the ARC, the respondents must return Atibir’s title deeds and release its securities and guarantees within four weeks. The Court said the ₹375 crore is a full and final settlement of the assigned debt, and it closed the pending insolvency petition before the National Company Law Tribunal under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and the recovery proceedings before the Debt Recovery Tribunal.

The settlement is conditional. If Atibir misses the 12-week deadline, the respondents can revive those proceedings and the company loses the benefit of the settlement.

Also read IBC Resolution Plan Cannot Be Withdrawn, Supreme Court Rules

A Disputed NPA Date and a ₹250 Crore Sale

Atibir borrowed from a consortium of banks led by SBI. The bank classified the loan as a non-performing asset (NPA) from 16 October 2020. On 24 March 2023, SBI assigned the debt to an ARC for ₹250 crore.

The company argued that the NPA tag was premature because of the RBI’s Covid-19 moratorium, which ran to 31 August 2020, and it challenged the assignment as well. A Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court set aside the NPA classification and the actions that followed. A Division Bench reversed that decision, and Atibir came to the Supreme Court.

The bench did not decide the legal questions on the NPA classification or the assignment, and left open whether compensation in such cases should be measured by the debt value or the acquisition value. Those points remain available for a future case.

Twelve Weeks to Pay

The 12-week clock decides what happens next: payment of ₹125 crore to the ARC, then return of the deeds within four weeks. No further hearing date was mentioned in the reports. For other recent rulings on bank loans and recovery, see the Supreme Court’s questions on banks and fraud victims and its ruling on NCLT staffing, or browse Daily Updates.

Source: Based on reporting by LiveLaw.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.