Arcelor paying Rs 39,500 cr for Essar Steel and not Rs 42,000 cr: SCB counsel Kapil Sibal

The world's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal is in effect paying Rs 39,500 crore and not Rs 42,000 crore for buying Essar Steel as the remaining sum is being adjusted towards outstanding of an associate business, senior counsel Kapil Sibal Monday alleged in the NCLAT.

Appearing on behalf of Standard Chartered, which is seeking to be treated at par with the secured financial creditor for its claim of Rs 3,500 crore, Sibal said bankers have clubbed Orissa Slurry Pipeline Ltd with Essar Steel in the auction to recover unpaid loans.

Orissa Slurry Pipeline Ltd, he said, is a separate entity owned by SREI Infrastructure and Essar Steel, and was not part of the original offer to sell Essar Steel. Clubbing it with Essar Steel in the sale would benefit Lakshmi Mittal-run firm.

Sibal argued that acceptance of Rs 39,500 crore as the bid amount by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Essar Steel, to which Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) was not part, is contrary to the undertaking given by ...