Arcelor withdraws its letter hinting at Vedanta ineligibility

India Pvt. Ltd has withdrawn its letter to the Essar Steel resolution professional (RP) wherein it had hinted that Vedanta may not be eligible to bid for the debt-laden company, given its patchy environmental and human rights record.

The first letter on September 15, written to the court-appointed RP, Satish Kumar Gupta, ran into six pages and listed the various infractions committed by Vedanta and its sister companies.

In a tacit admission of a faux pas, the second letter, a one-pager written on September 16, requested the RP to ignore the first.

“An internal draft of such a letter was inadvertently shared with you. Please ignore the communication for now. We regret any inconvenience caused to you.”

Mint has reviewed both letters, which were signed by Sanjay Sharma, the chief executive officer, India and China, ArcelorMittal.

ArcelorMittal, promoted by Indian-born LN Mittal, is the largest steel company in the world, and is engaged in a battle for control of Essar Steel, which owns a 10-million tonne steel plant in Gujarat.

Meanwhile, Numetal also wrote to the RP in a letter dated September 17 asking if it was true that LN Mittal’s brothers, Pramod Mittal and Vinod Mittal, are promoters or in management control of Gontermann Peipers, Ispat Profiles India Ltd, Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd, Balasore Alloys Ltd and GPI Textiles Ltd and whether these accounts have been declared NPAs by banks.

MUMBAI:ArcelorMittal