NEW DELHI: Corporate insolvency resolutions plummeted to a 13-quarter low, with only 36 cases resolved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) during January-March 2026, compared to 70 in the same period last year. This marks the worst March quarter since January-March 2022, when just 29 cases were approved, according to data from the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).
Reasons for the Slowdown
Industry trackers attribute the sharp decline primarily to the absence of a full-time NCLT president since the end of January, along with several other vacancies on the tribunal. The slowdown was particularly acute in February and March, with only eight and seven plans approved, respectively.
New Appointment Raises Hopes
Officials are optimistic that the resolution process will accelerate following the appointment of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal as the new NCLT president in May. The hope is that this will help clear the backlog and restore momentum to the insolvency resolution framework.
Rising Resolution Timelines
The delays have caused the average time for closing corporate insolvency cases to spike to 744 days, up from 713 days a year ago. This is nearly three times the extended timeline of 270 days provided under the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which was enacted in 2016 to expedite the process. The Supreme Court recently expressed concern over these prolonged delays in approving resolution plans.
Proposed Amendments to IBC
To address the bottlenecks, the government is considering amendments to the IBC. IBBI chairman Ravi Mittal stated in a monthly newsletter that the amendments would streamline the process. He noted, "The process has been criticised for delays in admission of a corporate debtor into CIRP. The amendments now provide that in applications made by financial institutions, a record of default issued by the information utility (IU) would be counted as sufficient proof of default. This addresses a key bottleneck where admission of cases was often delayed due to prolonged litigation on evidence of default. By recognising IU records as reliable and structured evidence, the process becomes faster and more objective."
Calls for More NCLT Benches
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs and IBBI have proposed establishing additional NCLT benches to handle the caseload. This proposal has received support from the parliamentary committee dealing with IBC amendments but is still awaiting government approval. Despite the challenges, the IBC remains the preferred mechanism for creditors to resolve pending dues.
