Kishore Biyani’s debt-laden Future Group can survive on its own with the help of banks and lenders, albeit at a reduced scale if Amazon wins the legal battle against the Big Bazaar parent, an independent director on the board of Future Retail (FRL) said on Tuesday.

FRL is locked in a legal battle with US retailer Amazon over its Rs 24,700-crore asset sale to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail. The comment comes against the backdrop of the National Company Law Tribunal stalling FRL’s shareholders meeting on Amazon’s objection.

An outcome in the dispute that has held up the FRL’s deal with Reliance for several months may take a while as the entities battle it out in courts. “If this gets embroiled in courts and carry on till this time next year, it will be bad for the company because it needs positive cash flow,” Ravindra Dhariwal, an independent director on FRL board, told TOI.

While urging regulatory authorities to intervene, Dhariwal accused Amazon of not trying to help Future Group. “If Amazon continues to push Future into a corner, we will go belly up,” he said. “This is a business with very thin margins and high fixed costs. Amazon doesn’t have any solution at all. What they have is these were my rights and you violated it.” Amazon did not comment but a spokesperson for the US e-tailer had earlier said that it had offered to assist FRL during the economic downturn caused by Covid. “We reiterated our openness for a dialogue even during Delhi high court hearings,” the spokesperson had said.

In November 2019, Amazon had gained an indirect stake in FRL by investing Rs 1,400 crore for 49% stake in Future Coupons, an unlisted Future Group company. By opting to sell to Reliance, Future Group has violated contractual agreements, the e-tailer has argued in courts.

The Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday directed Future group firms that “no meeting to be held until final order is pronounced on the applications”…