NCLT admits IL&FS highway company West Gujarat Expressway into insolvency
The NCLT Mumbai bench on 2 November 2026 admitted West Gujarat Expressway Limited, an IL&FS group road company, into insolvency on its own petition, with debt in default of about Rs 227 crore.
Key points
- The NCLT Mumbai bench admitted West Gujarat Expressway Limited into insolvency on its own petition on 2 November 2026.
- The company stated a total debt in default of Rs 2,27,20,58,957.71 as on 14 January 2026, the order records.
- A moratorium now bars suits and recovery against the company, and the order may be appealed to the NCLAT.
Photo: Ashwin Kumar from Bangalore, India / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped). Representational image.
The National Company Law Tribunal's Mumbai bench on 2 November 2026 admitted West Gujarat Expressway Limited, a road company of the IL&FS group, into the corporate insolvency resolution process. The company itself asked for insolvency under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, stating a total debt in default of Rs 2,27,20,58,957.71 (about Rs 227 crore) as on 14 January 2026.
What Happened
According to the order, the company was set up in 2005 by IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited to build and run the Jetpur-Gondal-Rajkot section of National Highway 8B for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on a build-operate-transfer basis. NHAI issued a termination notice on 21 December 2021, and the project was handed over on 1 April 2022. The company has had no significant business since.
The order records that NHAI paid the company Rs 69.53 crore on 4 July 2025 after a settlement, and that a final distribution of Rs 79.05 crore to creditors was completed on 10 December 2025 under the IL&FS group's resolution framework. The company's audited accounts for 2024-25 show total assets of Rs 85.34 crore against liabilities of Rs 319.81 crore, a negative net worth of Rs 234.47 crore. The senior lenders' debt has been assigned to CFM ARC, the order notes.
The tribunal said an ongoing investigation by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office is no bar to admission, and directed the resolution professional to take note of it. It turned down the company's request that future recoveries be shared under the IL&FS framework, saying that would pre-empt the Code's own process.
What It Means
Admission into insolvency is not a finding of fraud or mismanagement. A moratorium now bars suits, recovery actions and enforcement of security against the company. Its management passes to an interim resolution professional appointed by the tribunal, who will make a public announcement inviting claims from creditors. Creditors of the company should watch for that announcement and file claims within the time it sets. The tribunal's order may be appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.
Source: NCLT order
Sources & Citations
- NCLT order — National Company Law Tribunal