NCLAT to hear ArcelorMittal, NuMetal pleas tomorrow

New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) would hear the appeals filed by Essar Steel resolution applicants - NuMetal and Arcelor Mittal on Wednesday.

The appellate tribunal's direction came over a petition filed by the lenders of debt-ridden Essar Steel requesting an early hearing on account of loss of money because of delays.

Earlier it was scheduled for hearing on July 23. On May 22, NCLAT had ordered status quo on insolvency of Essar Steel for two months as it admitted petitions of NuMetal and ArcelorMittal over the bidding eligibility.

State Bank of India (SBI) filed the petition in NCLAT on behalf of the committee of creditors (CoC) of Essar Steel seeking the "earliest possible date for hearing on a day-to-day basis."

The NCLAT had on May 22 ordered hearing on the appeals on a daily basis from July 23-26. Russia's VTB Capital-based NuMetal and ArcelorMittal are vying for Essar Steel, which operates a 10-million-tonne-a-year steel plant with about 11,000 employees.

NuMetal and ArcelorMittal have filed petitions in NCLAT challenging the disqualification of their first round of bids. Both NuMetal and ArcelorMittal put in the second round of bids after the first bids were opined to be invalid -- NuMetal because of it being 25 per cent owned by Aurora Trust of Ruia family, the promoters of Essar Steel; and ArcelorMittal because it held shares in loan defaulting companies Uttam Galva Steel and KSS Petron.