A 2016 law that consolidated India's insolvency rules into a single, time-bound process for resolving the debts of firms and individuals, aimed at recovering value and freeing up stuck capital.
- The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016, replaced a patchwork of overlapping laws with one creditor-driven framework for corporate insolvency resolution.
- The Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) is meant to be completed within 180 days, extendable to 270, with an overall outer limit of 330 days including litigation.
- Adjudication is by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for companies and the Debt Recovery Tribunal for individuals; the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) regulates the professionals and process.
- A Committee of Creditors, led by financial creditors, approves a resolution plan; if none is approved, the firm goes into liquidation.
- It is a key tool against NPAs and the Twin Balance Sheet problem, improving credit discipline and India's ease-of-doing-business ranking.
The 2016 date, the time-bound CIRP, and the institutional roles (NCLT, IBBI, Committee of Creditors) are standard banking-reform and economy-governance facts.
The IBC (a time-bound insolvency resolution law) is not a recovery agency itself; it sets the process, while the NCLT adjudicates and the IBBI regulates; resolution is attempted before liquidation, not the other way round.
IBC, 2016 is a single time-bound insolvency law; CIRP within 330 days via the NCLT and IBBI, a key tool against NPAs.