Indian JSW Steel-Aion’s plan to revive Monnet Ispat wins court approval

23 july 2018

A consortium of India’s JSW Steel and Aion Investments II will revive bankrupt Monnet Ispat & Energy after their plan was approved by a domestic court, JSW Steel said late Thursday.

The National Company Law Tribunal approved the Rupees 28.75 billion ($418.9 million) plan on Thursday, the steelmaker said.

The approval clears the way for the consortium to revive Monnet Ispat and boost JSW Steel’s presence in the Indian steel market.

Monnet Ispat operates an 1.5 million mt/year integrated steel plant at Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, which will be added to JSW Steel’s current 18 million mt/year steel production capacity.

The steelmaker plans to increase its overall output to 24 million mt/year by March 2020. JSW Steel is installing a new 5 million mt/year flat steel plant at Dolvi, due for completion by the end of 2019, doubling Dolvi’s current capacity of 5 million mt/year.

Monnet Ispat is one of 12 large non-performing loans referred by the Reserve Bank of India for resolution under India’s insolvency and bankruptcy code.

With the court’s approval, Monnet Ispat has become the third bankrupt steelmaker to be resolved. Tata Steel secured Bhushan Steel in May while Vedanta was declared the successful bidder for Electrosteel Steel in June.

Aion Investments II is owned by Aion Capital Partners, a private equity fund focused on investing in India.

Source: S&P GLOBAL PLATTS