Essar Steel bid: Vedanta emerges dark horse, JSW Steel not keen to go alone

Anil Agarwal's Vedanta group has emerged the dark horse in the race to buy Essar Steel considering that the acquisition cost of ArcelorMittal has gone up by at least Rs 70 billion when compared to other bidders and that Numetal is now almost out of the competition, say lenders.

Vedanta had offered Rs 350 billion for Essar Steel in the second round of bidding.

The Supreme Court order has made it clear that the committee of creditors would look at all the bids, including from cash-rich Vedanta. The offers by ArcelorMittal and Numetal will also be considered if both cure themselves of their ineligibility by paying their outstanding dues to the banks.

ArcelorMittal owed companies Uttam Galva Steel and KSS Petron -- dues are close to Rs 70 billion to Indian banks. They will have to pay the dues to the banks first before bidding for Essar Steel, as per the SC order.