Listed companies on M&A road may get to skip NCLT

The Centre may consider eliminating mandatory approval from the company law court in the merger and demerger of local listed firms, two people aware of the discussions said, over eight years after it allowed the leeway for certain types of companies.

- Neha Joshi & Anirudh Laskar

MUMBAI: The move could reduce the burden on the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) benches and speed up the process, potentially reshaping the country's mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape.

"Multiple ministries are discussing ways to expedite amalgamations, particularly for listed companies. They are also considering whether approval requirements from the NCLT should be included in this process," one of the two people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.

In her budget speech on Saturday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government aims to streamline India's M&A process, making it faster and more efficient.