Operational creditors look to halt work

Around 1,200 operational creditors of Bhushan Power and Steel plan to bring the company’s Jharsuguda plant to a stand-still.

Operational creditors of the debt-ridden company told Business Standard they would ensure there was no movement of raw material or finished goods.

The plant has a capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum.

According to operational creditors, this was their way of protesting against the resolution plan proposed for the company. “With the proposed plan, operational creditors will get only seven to eight per cent of their dues. All of us will have to shut shop if these dues are not paid up adequately,” according to one of the creditors.

The creditors are also appealing against the payment of dues to the tune of ~1.5 billion to ~2 billion by post-dated cheques. Some of the operational creditors who were paid their dues during the insolvency resolution process were international companies.

The resolution professional for the company did not reply to queries till the time of going to press.

Sources close to developments in Bhushan Power and

Steel said some operational creditors were also moving the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against preferential payments and the resolution plan, which would fetch them only around seven per cent.

During a meeting of the Committee of creditors held on Monday, Sanjay Singhal, the promoter of Bhushan Power and Steel, asked why he wasn’t allowed to attend the meeting.

The COC for Bhushan Power and Steel zeroed in on Tata Steel as the preferred bidder. The battle for Bhushan Power & Steel was closely fought between UK-based Liberty House, which submitted a late bid, and Tata Steel.

Initially, Bhushan Power and Steel was a two-way race. Tata Steel and JSW Steel submitted their bids within the deadline. However, Liberty House made a late bid.