The tussle to acquire Essar Steel asset took a fresh turn with billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta expressing interest to raise his bid for the stressed steel company. Vendanta is now being seen as the most credible bidder as uncertainty still looms over eligibility of the other two contenders ArcelorMittal and Russian VTB Bank-promoted Numetal.

The two-week deadline given by the Supreme Court for both ArcelorMittal and Numetal to become eligible by paying off the debt of associate companies ended on Thursday.

Vedanta, which had placed a bid of ₹36,000 crore in the first round for Essar Steel, has said it is willing to increase the bid, said sources.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday will decide on whether to admit VTB Bank’s petition to go solo for Essar Steel asset. VTB Bank is lead partner in the Numetal consortium but links with Essar Steel’s erstwhile promoters has made the bid questionable.

ArcelorMittal has agreed to pay ₹7,469 crore to clear the default of UttamGalva Steel and KSS Petron in which it had held substantial stake. However, the default of both these companies work out to over ₹13,500 crore.

Having agreed to pay-off Uttam Galva debt in totality, ArcelorMittal is now eyeing taking over the company. Earlier, the Lakshmi Mittal-owned company divested its 29 per cent stake in Uttam Galva to become eligible for Essar Steel bidding. Uttam Galva has cold rolling capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum.

In the case of Numetal, it has to shell out ₹38,000 crore to the clear the dues of Essar Steel due to the presence of Rewant Ruia who is the son of Essar Group promoter Ravi Ruia.

With a bid of ₹42,000 crore, ArcelorMittal has already beaten Numetal’s offer of ₹37,000 crore. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that both the companies have to clear their dues and can place fresh bids along with Vedanta.

Meanwhile, the Committee of Creditors have eight weeks to decide on the bids or go to the Supreme Court seeking more clarification on the procedure.

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