IL&FS TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS, a group company of the troubled IL&FS Group, on Friday reported a standalone loss of Rs 17,000.32 crore for fiscal year 2019-20, amid Covid-19 disruptions. The company had clocked a standalone profit of Rs 251.76 crore during the fiscal 2018-19, it said in a regulatory filing.

The Forensic Report by Grant Thornton India on the books of accounts of lL&FS Transportation Networks India Limited (ITNL) reveals that its auditor — Deloitte Haskins and Sells — assisted the company to tweak the language of the Letter of Assurances (LOAs) issued by the company in a bid to avoid disclosure of contingent liability in its financial statements and then failed to flag the same in its audit reports. ITNL is a group company of financial firm IL&FS. The issue relates to LOA/Letter of Comfort (LOC) issued by ITNL in order to help borrowing at the special purpose vehicle (SPV) level for projects facing cost over¬runs or that required bridge funding. The Grant Thornton report, seen by The Indian Express, shows that there are at least 19 instances where ITNL issued LOA/LOC for loans sanctioned by group company IL&FS Financial Services (in 16 instances) and other financiers (3 instances) — aggregating to over Rs 2,700 crore — to various external parties who were also vendors of ITNL.

IL&FS Group has undertaken a top fleck reshuffle after its chief operating officer N Sivaraman, who was leading the asset-monetlsation programme for the beleaguered group, put in his papers. Three executives will now lead the asset monetisation and InvIT (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) programme as the group, which saw the government take charge a little under two years ago, races against time to sell assets to realise as much value as possible. At last count, the government was hoping to raise around Rs 55,000 crore to repay a debt of nearly Rs 94,000 crore. While the estimate was pre-lockdown, some of the assets may now see more muted Interest, given that a few of the bidders themselves are facing financial distress.

VETERAN banker Uday Kotak, managing director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited has assumed office as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2020-21, the chamber said Wednesday. Kotak takes over from Vikram Kirloskar, chairman and managing director of Kirloskar Systems Ltd and vice chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

An audit report has revealed that IL&FS Transportation Networks India did not disclose as 'contingent liabilities' loans amounting to Rs 2,570.50 crore sanctioned by sister concern IL&FS Financial Services — despite providing assurance letters — to avoid rating downgrade. These loans Issued to third parties, who were also vendors to ITNL, didn't follow required standard operating procedures (SOPs), or any formal policy or protocol regarding approval from the board of directors or committee of disputes (COD)—Increasing the risk exposure of the company, it said. ET has seen a copy of the Grant Thornton India report.

The previous management of debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) surreptitiously attempted to hide the dire financial condition of the company, conceal cash flow stress and mislead regulators into adopting a restructuring plan, according to a forensic report reviewed by Moneycontrol. The audit findings by consultancy Grant Thornton (GT) reveal that the management knew about the financial challenges that the group was facing since 2016 and it had also discussed with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make necessary regulatory amendments to facilitate fundraising at the holding company level.

THE National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday approved the stake sale of IL&FS in Gujarat International Finance Tech-City Company Limited (GIFT City) to the Government of Gujarat for Rs 32.7 crore. The Gujarat International was set up as an equal joint venture between the state government, via Gujarat Urban Development Company Ltd (GURDCL) and IL&FS to develop an integrated township and financial services hub. Last year, the Gujarat government had applied for buying the 50 per cent stake in the joint venture.

Debt-laden IL&FS will sell its entire stake in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Limited (GIFTCL) to the Gujarat government. IL&FS has a 50 per cent stake in GIFTCL, which comprises a multi-services Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and International Finance Services Centre (IFSC) totaling approximately 6 lakh square feet.

The Gujarat government is set to acquire IL&FS' 50% stake in GIFT City for Rs 32.70 crore exercising its right of first refusal. The court agreed to the deal noting that the sale value was higher than the fair value as the company had a negative equity value as assessed by RBSA advisors. The stake sale in GIFT city is part of the Uday Kotak-led board of IL&FS to liquidate assets of the group which has total debt of nearly Rs 1 lakh crore and has defaulted on its repayment obligations. The sale has been approved by a committee of creditors to who IL&FS owes money

Top executives of a subsidiary of debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) colluded with a Mumbai-based contractor to hand out lucrative tenders through suspicious transactions and rigged bidding, according to a forensic audit reviewed by Moneycontrol. The findings of the forensic audit by consultancy Grant Thornton of IL&FS Transportation Networks India Limited (ITNL) shed new light on events that led to the financial ruin of IL&FS, which committed a number of defaults and roiled India’s shadow banking sector due to consequent concerns of a larger bad debt crisis. The government was finally forced in 2018 to replace the IL&FS management with a team led by banker Uday Kotak.