The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), enacted in May 2016, completes a decade of implementation in 2026. It consolidated 12 fragmented laws into a single framework, establishing the NCLT and IBBI as key institutions. Over 10 years, IBC has resolved over 3,600 cases, recovered approximately ₹3.4 lakh crore for creditors, and admitted nearly 27,000 insolvency applications. The average recovery rate improved significantly from pre-IBC levels, though resolution timelines remain a persistent challenge.

Before IBC, India had a fragmented insolvency ecosystem: the SICA dealt with sick industries, SARFAESI handled secured creditors, DRT managed debt recovery, and the Companies Act governed winding-up. These overlapping mechanisms caused average resolution timelines of 4-5 years, discouraging credit markets and inflating non-performing assets. IBC brought a paradigm shift — from debtor-in-possession to creditor-in-control, with time-bound resolution (originally 180 days, extendable to 270 days). The IBBI (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India) was created as the regulator, while NCLTs became the adjudicating authority for corporate insolvency. A critical innovation was the Committee of Creditors (CoC), which gives financial creditors primacy over operational creditors in resolution decisions — a hierarchy the Supreme Court upheld in Essar Steel (2019). The IBC also introduced personal insolvency provisions (Parts III and IV), though these remain underutilised. Key amendments in 2019 and 2021 added the pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (PPIRP) for MSMEs, cross-border insolvency consultations, and section 32A (immunity for resolution applicants from prior criminal liability). After a decade, IBC's success is mixed: creditor recovery rates (~32%) remain below global benchmarks, haircuts are large, and NCLT capacity is severely strained. Yet it has fundamentally altered credit discipline and banker-borrower dynamics in India.