Arcelor Mittal shows keenness in Bhushan Steel's stressed assets

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to enter Indian steel market, Steel major ArcelorMittal is considering to buy stressed assets of Bhushan Steel, which has  a good presence in auto steel categories with a 5.6 Million Tonne (MT) integrated steel plant in Odisha.

According to reports published in national media, LN Mittal-led ArcelorMittal has submitted an expression of interest (EoI) for Bhushan Steel though there has been no official confirmation on the latest development.

Following the media report, Bhushan Steel share price rallied as much as 20 percent Monday morning.

Bhushan Steel is among 12 companies which have been referred to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by RBI under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Other steel sectors among the 12 companies referred to NCLT are Essar Steel, Monnet Ispat & Energy and Electrosteel Steels.

The Bhushan Steel owes nearly Rs 42,000 crore to lender banks and was admitted into NCLT in July this year.

The steel behemoth has inked MoU in 2005 with Jharkhand to enter India for the 12 MT plant. Later, two more pacts were signed by the company with Odisha and Karnataka for the Greenfield projects.

However, delay in clearance forced the company to pull out of its Odisha project.