IBC India Critique: A Solar Man’s Truth vs Academic Myths
Written by Kunwer Sachdev — Solar Man of India, Founder Su-Kam Power Systems
As the Solar Man of India and founder of Su-Kam Power Systems — a company that brought solar and inverter technology to millions across India and 90+ countries — I have lived the IBC from the inside. What I experienced on the ground has nothing in common with what academics write about it.
If you search the internet for articles on India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), you will find a flood of beautifully written, textbook essays. A prime example is an article published by Tranzission titled “How IBC Promotes Entrepreneurship”. On paper, it sounds spectacular. But there is a glaring, systemic problem: these pieces are entirely general, purely theoretical, and completely devoid of real-world examples. When tested against the brutal ground reality of a real corporate battle — such as the landmark Su-Kam Power Systems case — the academic fantasy completely shatters.
Myth 1: “IBC Preserves the Value of the Enterprise”
The Academic Claim
Theoretical articles argue that by replacing the debtor with an Insolvency Professional (IP), the code preserves corporate value and ensures the business continues as a “going concern.”
The Ground Reality
The day an IP or Liquidator takes over, operational paralysis begins. Cash flow freezes halted standard operations at Su-Kam. Employees faced non-payment, leading to intense labor unrest to the point where police protection was needed. Freezing a tech-heavy business turns a living enterprise into distressed scrap long before any auction occurs.
Myth 2: “IBC Protects and Promotes Innovation”
The Academic Claim
Commentators love to say the IBC frees up trapped capital so that it can be redeployed into the economy, ultimately fostering an environment of risk-taking and innovation.
The Ground Reality
The code treats heavy machinery and intangible intellectual property with the exact same rigid yardstick. Su-Kam spent over three decades building proprietary patents, cutting-edge R&D, and huge brand equity. Yet, the iconic “Su-Kam” trademark and IP rights were bundled late via amendments, slashing its value down to a fraction of its true worth.
Myth 3: “Section 29A Keeps the System Clean”
The Academic Claim
Section 29A is praised as a masterstroke that prevents “unscrupulous promoters” from buying back their own companies at a discount after driving them into default.
The Ground Reality
Section 29A paints with an incredibly blunt, unforgiving brush. It fails to differentiate between a willful defaulter who actively defrauded banks and an honest entrepreneur hit by severe macroeconomic shifts. By completely barring the original creator from submitting a revival scheme, it strips away the only person with the technical vision to turn it around.
Myth 4: “Creditor-in-Control Enhances Efficiency”
The Academic Claim
Handing control over to a Committee of Creditors (CoC) ensures transparent, financially sound restructuring decisions.
The Ground Reality
Bankers are trained in risk aversion and compliance, not in running complex, highly technical manufacturing empires. The CoC’s primary objective is cleaning up their own NPA books quickly to save their own skin. In this loop, vast ecosystems of dealers, distributors, and customers holding warranties are abandoned overnight.
The Takeaway: Stop Writing in a Vacuum. The theoretical praise showered upon the IBC by generic legal portals and AI writers is completely detached from the human and economic cost borne by India’s actual wealth creators. For entrepreneurship to truly thrive, the legal ecosystem needs an empathetic, nuanced framework that protects intellectual property, values institutional knowledge, and offers genuine second chances to honest innovators. Until our policy commentators start looking at real-world casualties like the dismantling of Su-Kam, their articles will remain nothing more than empty academic prose.
Kunwer Sachdev
Solar Man of India | Inverter Man of India | Founder, Su-Kam Power Systems
Kunwer Sachdev built Su-Kam Power Systems into India’s leading inverter and solar brand, exporting to 90+ countries with 70+ patents. After Su-Kam’s insolvency in 2018, he repositioned as a mentor, angel investor with Delhi Angels, and clean energy advocate. He now mentors Su-vastika Systems and writes on entrepreneurship, policy, and innovation.