​Resolution professionals can make as much as ₹1.5 lakh a month and are in demand

• There is a job role that will thrive during bad times — that of resolution professionals (RPs).
  
• Insolvency professionals (IPs) as they are also called help distressed and bankrupt companies liquidate assets.
  
• Watch an interview with India’s bankruptcy board chairman where he talks about insolvency laws and the need to hire resolution professionals.

Economic slowdown leads to job losses, but it there is a job that will thrive during bad times — that of resolution professionals (RPs). A large number of companies are being sucked into bankruptcy as they are unable to pay loans, but the number of RPs in India are few and far between.

Insolvency professionals (IPs) as they are also called help distressed and bankrupt companies liquidate assets. Two years ago, India introduced a new bankruptcy law — the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) — to assist banks to resolve bad debt.

“India had as many as had around 700 insolvency professionals, as of 2017,” said Mamta Binani, former president of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

In the last two years, the number of cases landing into bankruptcy court has increased by leaps and bounds. “We have about 2,500 cases, 10,000 matters or so who are people applied, filed an application with the adjudicating authority, and before admission those are withdrawn,” MS Sahoo, the Chairman of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India told Business Insider India.

Added to that, India also needs resolution professionals to wade through the complexity of new laws that are still taking shape in India. So far, there have been two corrections to the evolving code.

“It made two course corrections earlier and this is the third round. The law now says that the process has to be completed in 330 days mandatorily including the time spent on liquidation,” Sahoo added.

The success of a good liquidation plan lies in the time taken to resolve it. As time passes, the value of assets also decrease leading to loss of value. As India plans to navigate through tough regulations, it also needed professionals who can ease the transition, and quickly.

The country has tried to groom insolvency professionals with its various training programmes for insolvency associates. The Insolvency and Banking Board of India (IBBI) created ways that allow Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Advocates to become IPs.

However, it may be a challenging career to take on. For one, a resolution professional has to deal with a multitude of issues, aspects, audits and even legal wrangles that are common. Recently, a case where ArcelorMittal tried to take over Essar Steel which was facing bankruptcy ended in the Supreme Court.

Yet, the salaries of Interim Resolution Professionals and Resolution Professionals are also attractive. The actual compensation varies as per the complexity of cases and ranges from ₹ ₹50,000 to over ₹1.5 lakh a month.

Watch an interview with India’s bankruptcy board chairman where he talks about insolvency laws and the need to hire resolution professionals.