Divyanshu Pandey, Author at S&R Associates

Accessing Space for Commercial Activities and Satellite Spectrum Allocation in India

Insights | January 6, 2025 | Practice Area: General Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, Regulatory, Technology, Technology; Media and Telecommunications

The Government of India has been actively working towards liberalizing the space sector and enhancing private sector participation. In this regard, given the stakes involved and the positions taken by various interested parties, the process for allocation of satellite spectrum remains a contentious point.
There has been a major debate among service providers regarding the appropriate way to allocate satellite spectrum.
While the Telecommunications Act, 2023 (“Telecom Act”) favors administrative allocation of satellite spectrum, the details of such process are yet to be finalized. This note considers the debate involving auctions and administrative allocation and provides an overview of past and recent developments with respect to Supreme Court judgements, digital communications policy, frequency allocation plan, space policy and the Telecom Act. It also discusses past consultation papers and recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on satellite spectrum allocation, as well as the recent provisional satellite spectrum allocation approved by the Department of Telecommunications.

Fraud Risk Management Obligations of NBFCs: Recent Changes Introduced by the RBI

Insights | September 24, 2024 | Practice Area: Anti-corruption; Fraud and Investigations, Banking and Finance, Regulatory

With the aim of introducing a comprehensive and clear set of rules for fraud risk management in Non-Banking Finance Companies, the Reserve Bank of India has introduced the Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management in Non-Banking Finance Companies. These Directions have revamped the landscape of fraud risk management for NBFCs, through the introduction of enhanced compliance requirements. While the 2016 Master Directions obligated NBFCs to timely report frauds detected in their operations, the new Directions require NBFCs to also take proactive steps to prevent and detect fraudulent activities. The effect of these Directions is that NBFCs need to thoroughly review their existing policies and frameworks and to introduce significant changes to become compliant with the RBI’s mandate.

Building Bonds: The Mechanics of India’s Debut Sovereign Green Issuance

Insights | January 24, 2023 | Practice Area: Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Clean Energy, Projects; Infrastructure and Energy, Regulatory

India’s debut issuance of sovereign green bonds by auction provides a significant opportunity to ascertain the current market appetite for such sustainability-linked initiatives, including among institutional investors. Indeed, such bonds have been successful in the past in the context of an eclectic set of sovereign issuances. Among other things, standards established by such issuance may lead to welcome improvements in the Indian bond market in general terms. For instance, Indian companies may want to ride on enhanced credibility standards, as applicable, and seek to better address persistent concerns related to greenwashing. Such broad advantages notwithstanding, in this piece, we look at some of the finer details related to India’s debut sovereign green bond issuance.

New Overseas Investments Regime in India

Insights | September 14, 2022 | Practice Area: Banking and Finance, General Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, Regulatory

On August 22, 2022, the Government of India notified the new regime for overseas investments by Indian entities and individuals. The new regime is a mixed bag of liberalizations, new restrictions and clarifications, and signals the revised thinking of the Reserve Bank of India in certain respects, particularly in relation to the scope of overseas investments and round tripping. This note discusses the changes introduced by the new regime and its impact on cross border transactions.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code: Resolution Plan Approved by the Committee of Creditors Cannot be Modified or Withdrawn

Insights | September 28, 2021 | Practice Area: Litigation and Arbitration, Restructuring and Insolvency

Recently, pursuant to its decision in Ebix Singapore Private Limited v Committee of Creditors of Educomp Solutions Limited and Anr., the Supreme Court of India extensively analyzed the status of a resolution plan approved by the Committee of Creditors but pending approval of the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The Supreme Court observed that such a resolution plan binds the Committee of Creditors and the Resolution Applicant and reinforced the strength of the decision of the Committee of Creditors in favor of a resolution plan. The Supreme Court also, once again, clarified the scope of scrutiny, at the stage of approval of a resolution plan, by the National Company Law Tribunal and consequently by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.

Pre-pack Resolution Route Needs Incentives

Insights | September 1, 2021 | Practice Area: Banking and Finance, Restructuring and Insolvency

The recent amendment to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“IBC”) replaces an ordinance promulgated earlier this year, and provides for a pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (“PIRP”) for micro, small and medium enterprises (“MSMEs”). The PIRP comes in the backdrop of the financial stress caused by COVID-19 and aims to cause minimal disruption to business and to ensure job preservation. While the PIRP is well intended, how effective it will be in resolving stress on corporate debtors in the MSME sector will come down to how it is implemented and if required, fine tuning its design.