In a surprise move, State Bank of India has put on sale its Rs 15,431-crore loan to Essar Steel in a bid to clean up its balance sheet. It has set a reserve price of Rs 9,587 crore, which is a discount of 38 per cent.
The resolution case of Essar Steel is pending in front of the Ahmedabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which is slated to pronounce an order on January 31. SBI, the country’s largest bank, has decided to sell the loan in a full-cash deal.
This is second time that SBI is putting Essar’s loan