While earlier NCLT’s hearing was scheduled on 11 February and NCLAT’s subsequent hearing on 12 February, NCLT Ahmedabad has delayed its order.
Meanwhile, Ruias, the original promoters of Essar Steel moved NCLAT against a previous NCLT order which dismissed their resolution plan. NCLT Ahmedabad in January had rejected Ruias’ INR 54,000-crore bid by calling it a “last minute entry”. Even though the Ruia family bid was supposed to take care of the operational creditors as well, Essar Steel’s CoC favoured ArcelorMittal’s bid of INR 42,000 crore.
However, it bid for only a part of the INR 13,000-crore loans the lender has put on the block. The investment bank has bid for about one-sixth of the loans that were up for sale and is said to have offered INR 1,300-1,500 crore. However, it is unclear whether SBI would accept the bid as there was no competition. The lender had said in the sale document that it might exercise the right not to go ahead with the sale at any stage.
Essar Steel has long been caught up in the IBC proceedings. With over INR 50,000 crore at stake, the company has been fought over by numerous bidders including Numetal, Vedanta group, JSW Steel Ltd and ArcelorMittal. However, after several rounds of bidding, only ArcelorMittal has remained in the game with its winning bid, whereas the Ruia family is trying to get the control back by topping up the offer.