SBI rejects Uttam Galva s one-time settlement offer

Mumbai: Debt-ridden Uttam Galva Steels Ltd Tuesday said the State Bank of India (SBI) has rejected its offer for a one-time settlement of dues.

The company, which is undergoing bankruptcy resolution, last month offered to pay Rs2,885 crore out of its total dues of Rs5,650 crore.

Uttam Galva Steels informed the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) that it received SBI’s rejection letter on Monday.

The company now plans to file a reply to the bankruptcy petition.

“We are trying to resolve the matter with SBI as well as the other lenders. We have given one offer that was rejected by the bank,” J.P. Sen, senior counsel appearing for Uttam Galva told the NCLT bench. “We need more time to talk further with SBI as well as other banks. We are also seeking more time from the tribunal to file our reply in the matter since the rejection letter from SBI has reached us only yesterday night.”

SBI is the largest in a consortium of 18 banks that lent to Uttam Galva. The steel firm also owes Rs850 crore and Rs650 crore to Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank, respectively.

Arguing before an NCLT division bench of B.S.V. Prakash Kumar and Ravikumar Duraisamy, SBI counsel Ameya Gokhale of law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas said, “This company is part of the list issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) where the central banker had mandated to refer for early resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). We have instruction to go ahead with the petition... The company has defaulted on Rs1,486 crore. SBI had provided four separate facilities on which the steel company has defaulted.”

Uttam Galva is part of RBI’s so-called second list of defaulters against whom the central bank had directed lenders to take action.

Uttam Galva can file its reply by 12 April, when the bench will hear the matter again.

Earlier, on 24 March, Uttam Galva informed the stock exchange that it had received approvals from BSE and NSE for declassification of world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal as a promoter of the company.

An email query to the company did not elicit any answer till press time. On Tuesday, Uttam Galva Steels Ltd shares closed at Rs12.95 a share on BSE, 4.7% below its previous closing.

State Bank of India