Vedanta, Tata Steel eligible to bid for Electrosteel, say lenders

Renaissance Steel had raised objections on Vedanta's eligibility to bid for the debt-laden steel company

In a battle for taking over insolvent Electrosteel Steels, lenders to the steel producer on Thursday decided to go ahead with Vedanta, rejecting objections raised by the Renaissance Steel on the eligibility of the former to bid for the debt-laden company.

The Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on March 20, had directed the resolution professional (RP) of the company to place all the objections of Renaissance Steel against the eligibility of Vedanta and Tata Steel to bid for the insolvent company before the Committee of Creditors (CoC) for an "independent consideration" of the committee.

"The Committee of Creditors (COC) validated the eligibility of both Vedanta and Tata Steel to bid for debt laden steel producer," a source said.

Passing the order, Justice Jinan K.R. said: "The RP is directed to place all the objections of the applicants with supporting documents before CoC with a copy of this order for its independent consideration as per provisions to Section 30 of the Code."

Abhishek Dalmia-led Renaissance Steel, one of resolution applicants, had alleged that its two rival bidders were not eligible to bid for the insolvent steel maker as per the Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

It also moved the tribunal, asking it to prevent Dhaivat Anjaria, the RP, from proceeding on further negotiations with Vedanta, the highest bidder, till the issue of eligibility of the Anil Agarwal-led company and Tata Steel was determined.