Emails seeking responses from Gupta and State Bank of India (SBI), which had moved the insolvency petition against Essar Steel, remained unanswered till the time of going to press. Earlier this year, lenders to OSPIL had moved the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the sale of a 70% stake in OSPIL to Numetal Mauritius. Numetal had entered into an agreement to buy a 70% stake from Srei Infrastructure for Rs 4,000 crore. Numetal, a joint venture between Russia’s VTB Bank and Rewant Ruia’s trust, has made a bid for Essar Steel under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), as has Lakshmi Mittal’s ArcelorMittal. Essar Steel owes lenders close to Rs 45,000 crore. There have been two rounds of bidding for Essar Steel and contenders for the company are now quibbling in the courts over which round should be considered for the sale of the company.

In May, Numetal argued in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that the resolution plans submitted in the second round of bidding should be considered and the highest bid be selected. ArcelorMittal, on the other hand, opposed the petition to allow the second round of bids to be opened, and said only the first round of bids should be considered. ArcelorMittal is understood to have made an upfront offer of Rs 30,500 crore and pledged another Rs 8,000 crore in the form of capital infusion into Essar Steel. Mukul Rohatgi, counsel for Numetal, told the NCLAT that Numetal has severed its association with Rewant Ruia, son of Essar Steel promoter Ravi Ruia, to become eligible to buy the steel company. Moreover, he said, it has also enhanced the bid amount to Rs 37,000 crore.