Devyani International to withdraw insolvency plea against Bira over ₹1.09 crore dues

Devyani International has filed a plea to withdraw its insolvency petition against B9 Beverages Limited (Bira) from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), where the case was pending over alleged unpaid dues of ₹1.09 crore [Devyani International v. B9 Beverages].

The move came after the parties reached a settlement, after the final arguments in the case concluded.

A Bench of NCLT comprising Judicial Member B Venkat Balram Das and Technical Member Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan listed the case to consider the withdrawal plea on September 10.

Devyani International, a listed company that operates quick service restaurants (QSRs) such as KFC and Pizza Hut across India, had initiated insolvency proceedings alleging that B9 Beverages failed to clear payments owed under brand alliance and supply agreements.

The agreements, signed from October 2021 onwards, covered promotion of the Bira brand and supply of products at several locations, including Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport and New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Sister entities of Devyani — Devyani Food Spirit Private Limited and Devyani Airport Services Mumbai Private Limited — also entered into supply arrangements with Bira for multiple airport outlets.

In March 2023, addendums were executed to extend the scope of these contracts. Devyani alleged that Bira was obligated to clear invoices within ten days of each quarter’s end but defaulted starting in the first quarter of FY 2023–24. Despite repeated reminders, payments were allegedly not released from June 29, 2023, onwards.

A statutory notice under Section 8 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, was then issued. According to Devyani, Bira responded with a “frivolous reply” on September 27, 2024, failing to address the dues, prompting Devyani to file the insolvency petition.

While Devyani has now sought to withdraw its case, three other insolvency petitions filed by different companies remain pending against Bira before the NCLT, New Delhi.

Devyani International was represented by Advocates Satish Rai, Abhay Gupta, Lakshay Aggarwal and Yogesh Khandiya of SR Legal.

B9 Beverages was represented by Advocates Divjyot Singh and Nipun Dwivedi.