New Delhi: Lenders to Alok Industries have taken a deep haircut of 83% in approving Reliance Industries-JM Financial ARC’s resolution plan to take over the bankrupted textile company.The RIL-JM combine has offered just Rs 5,050 crore for the acquisition of Alok Industries, which owes close to Rs 30,000 crore to a consortium of banks and operational creditors. However, the deal has saved the bankrupted company from liquidation, which as multiple media reports noted, was a very real fear a few months ago.RIL-JM Financial had emerged as the sole bidder for the Alok Industries in the first round of auction held in March 2018, but lenders baulked at accepting the resolution plan which required them to take 85% haircut.The partnership later raised its offer price by Rs 100 crore. But lenders again rejected the resolution plan.The resolution plan was finally approved on Friday, with 72% of lenders voting in its favour. The resolution has been facilitated by the amendment in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) that requires the approval of only a minimum of 66% of lenders as against 75% earlier.The partnership had offered Rs 5,050 crore in the second round on April 13, about Rs 100 crore more than the first round on April 11. The resolution plans had got 70% and 71% support in the first and second round, respectively.At the end of the 270-day period allowed for putting in place a resolution plan in April, the resolution professional filed for liquidation at the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The bankruptcy court ruled in June that lenders should consider voting once again following changes in the IBC.The liquidation price of the bankrupted company was estimated at Rs 4,200 crore, lower than what the sole bidder had offered.Over the last three days, lenders held marathon meetings over NCLT’s ruling and the need for yet another round of voting. The combine had refused to further sweeten the offer.NCLT had asked the resolution professional “to present the resolution plan of the sole resolution applicant before the CoC (committee of creditors) for a relook and for proper consideration in view of the amendment made in the statute, in the same parameter as it was earlier considered without incorporating any new issues which were not taken into account while considering the resolution plan submitted by sole applicant.”The NCLT went on to say that the resolution professional “consider only the voting process as per the amended provisions made in the code and to submit its report along with the resolution of the CoC for consideration before adjudicating authority.” The tribunal asked the resolution professional to submit its report by June 25.Alok Industries is one of the 12 companies, the so-called ‘dirty dozen’, identified by the Reserve Bank of India in May last year for initiating bankruptcy proceedings by lenders.At the time, these companies together owed Rs 1.75 lakh crore in bad loans to banks, a fourth of total non-performing assets (NPAs) of the bank sector.Bhushan Steel and Electrosteel Steels are among companies from the ‘dirty dozen’ whose resolution plans have been approved following bankruptcy proceedings.The bad loan problem of India’s banking sector has worsened in recent years despite the government and the RBI prodding lenders to expedite recovery and clean up balance sheets.According to CRISIL, as much as Rs 5 lakh crore of stressed loans turned into NPAs last fiscal.As per data compiled by rating agency ICRA, another rating agency, Indian banks wrote off loans worth Rs 1.44 lakh crore in 2017-18.