Jindal Steel and Power Ltd(JSPL) on Monday announced that it has made a prepayment of ₹2,462 crore to its term lenders.
“The significant debt reduction is part of our long-term financial strategy to create a strong balance sheet. In the coming quarters, we intend to further strengthen our balance sheet and become net debt-free shortly,” JSPL MD V R Sharma said in a statement.
The new debt reduction of ₹2,462 crore is over and above the annual committed debt reduction in the financial year 2020-21, the statement said.
Additionally, the recently announced sale of JSPL’s 96.42 per cent stake in electricity-generation subsidiary Jindal Power Ltd will reduce its debt further as well as cut down on its carbon footprint by almost half, the statement added. The buyer, Worldone Private Ltd, is a private company owned by JSPL chairman Naveen Jindal.
While announcing October-December quarter results, JSPL had reported a debt reduction of more than ₹20,000 crore from a peak of approximately ₹46,500 crore in Q3FY17 to ₹25,600 crore in Q3FY21.
The company's production stood at 7.51 million tonnes during the financial year ended March 2021.