The Supreme Court has dismissed an SBI-led review petition calling for the reconsideration of Reliance Communications' spectrum as part of the insolvency pool under the IBC code. According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, the court issued its order on July 28, 2026, with Justices PS Narasimha and Atul Chandurkar rejecting the plea filed by the Committee of Creditors (CoC). The petition challenged an earlier February 13 judgment that deemed spectrum as a natural resource belonging to the people of India and not viable as an asset to be sold. Following the Supreme Court's rejection, Reliance Communications' creditors are now seeking to unlock the value of the company's remaining assets, particularly its substantial real estate portfolio.
The Committee of Creditors, led by State Bank of India, is seeking to preserve and unlock the value of Reliance Communications' remaining assets, particularly its real estate portfolio. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the total value of attached real estate properties across Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Odisha is estimated to exceed ₹7,000 crore. The portfolio includes 132.07 acres of land at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai, valued at ₹4,462.81 crore, which was attached by the ED in the last year. The real estate has assumed an important role in RCom's resolution, particularly after the exclusion of spectrum from the insolvency pool, with the original resolution plan estimating recoveries of over ₹23,000 crore for 38 lenders against secured debt of approximately ₹33,000 crore.
The Committee of Creditors argued that the exclusion of spectrum from the insolvency framework has 'profound negative impact on overall credit expansion in the economy'. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the CoC contended that the decision has created significant challenges for creditors seeking to recover their investments through the insolvency process. The creditors are now evaluating their options following the Supreme Court's spectrum judgment, with the first alternative being to restart the resolution process with revised asset valuations reflecting current market realities and ED attachment benchmarks. Failing this, the next alternative is liquidation, with Reliance Communications' real estate holdings potentially significant for creditor recoveries, though actual recoveries would depend on the ability to realise the assets.
The Committee of Creditors is expected to meet this Friday to evaluate available options in light of the Supreme Court's spectrum judgment and subsequent dismissal of the review petition. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, the CoC is likely to meet this week to deliberate on further resolution possibilities. The real estate portfolio, including enterprise business, data centre assets and recoveries from legal claims, is positioned to be one of the principal sources of value for creditors to support a new resolution plan or generate recoveries through liquidation. The committee's request to the Enforcement Directorate to release attached properties is central to the future of RCOM's resolution process, as a significant portion of the real estate has been provisionally attached by the ED, restricting sale, transfer or monetisation of the properties.
