L&T moves NCLT to be declared as secured creditor in Bhushan Steel insolvency

New Delhi: Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) on Thursday moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking ‘higher priority’ in repayment of dues owed by Bhushan Steel Ltd.

Bhushan Steel owes Rs900 crore to L&T for supply of certain capital goods.

Appearing for L&T, lawyer Mukul Rohatgi asked NCLT to declare its position as a ‘secured creditor’, rather than an ‘operational creditor’ under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, to move up the priority ladder in the corporate insolvency resolution process.

A three-member bench presided by chairperson M.M Kumar directed Vijaykumar V. Iyer, Bhushan Steel’s Insolvency Resolution Professional to reply to L&T’s plea within a week.

The engineering and construction company had bagged a Rs1,205 crore order from Bhushan Steel for construction related work at the latter’s Odisha plant in September 2007.

Bhushan Steel owes Rs44,478 crore crore to a consortium of creditors led by State Bank of India, and is presently undergoing insolvency resolution process under a plea admitted by NCLT on 26 July.

The resolution period for Bhushan Steel would end on 22 April, after NCLT granted a 90-day extension beyond the initial mandate of 180 days, to the committee of creditors in December 2017.

Bhushan Steel, which has manufacturing plants in Odisha, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, is one of the 12 large non-performing assets identified by the Reserve Bank of India in June 2017.

The matter would be heard next on 23 March.

Larsen & Toubro Limited