Numetal can bid for Essar, ArcelorMittal must clear dues: NCLAT
New Delhi, Sep 7 : The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday ruled that Numetal's second bid for insolvent Essar Steel was eligible, and asked ArcelorMittal to first clear its dues by September 11 to turn eligible.
The appellate tribunal directed the Committee of Creditors (CoC), lenders of Essar Steel, to expedite its negotiation with eligible bidders to get the best value for the stressed asset.
Apart from Numetal, Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources is also an eligible bidder, which joined the race in the second round of bidding.
The NCLAT's approval of Numetal's second bid has set aside its earlier Ahmedabad Bench order that had ruled that second round of bidding was "prima facie invalid". Numetal had filed its second bid on March 29.
ArcelorMittal has been asked to clear its dues related to Uttam Galva and KSS Petron, of which it was a promoter when these turned non-performing assets (NPA).
The Lakshmi Mittal-company needs to pay about Rs 7,000 crore in three working days by Tuesday to become eligible, as per the NCLAT ruling.
The world's largest steelmaker had made a conditional deposit of Rs 7,000 crore in its own current account saying it was ready to deposit the amount in the non-performing accounts of Uttam Galva and KSS Petron if its bid was successful.
However, the tribunal ruled conditional offer to pay the overdues was not acceptable and actual transfer of money had to be done before its resolution plan is considered.
Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) disqualifies a promoter of NPA from submitting a resolution plan. The same rule had earlier barred Numetal from being an eligible bidder as it had a stake from a family member of insolvent Essar Steel.
Rewant Ruia, son of Essar Steel promoter Ravi Ruia, had 25 per cent stake in Numetal through his 100 per cent-owned Aurora Enterprises Ltd (AEL) at the time of first round of bidding and Numetal was seen as a proxy for Ruias.
However, Rewant Ruia (AEL) has fully divested his stake in Numetal and JSW Steel is now a part of the Numetal consortium.
"As on March 29, 2018, as the AEL was not the shareholder of Numetal Ltd and all the three shareholders aforesaid being eligible, we hold that Numetal Ltd in respect of Resolution Plan dated March 29, 2018, is eligible," the bankruptcy court ruled.
The NCLAT has allowed the CoC to deduct the litigation period between April 26 and September 7 from the resolution period that gives 270 days to resolve a case after which the company is considered for liquidation.
"We note today's (Friday) NCLAT judgement and await the full order, which we will review before determining our next steps," ArcelorMittal said in a statement on the verdict by the two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya.
The CoC is now expected to hold a meeting soon to proceed on the resolution process for beleaguered Essar Steel unless any of the parties challenges NCLAT's verdict.
Though the second round of bids are yet to be opened, officials say Numetal's bid for Essar Steel is about Rs 37,000 crore and that of ArcelorMittal is about Rs 38,500 crore.
The financial creditors claim on bankrupt Essar Steel is to the tune of Rs 49,800 crore.
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PUC-2 pass percentage stands at 81.58 per cent in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Students across Karnataka scored high marks in the PUC-2 Examination-1 for 2026, to which the results were announced on Thursday. The overall pass percentage stood at 81.58 per cent.
The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) released the combination-wise list of toppers for various streams.
The Pre-University College-2 (PUC-2) Exam-1 was conducted from February 28 to March 17 at 1,217 Examination Centers across the state.
A total of 6,94,545 students appeared for the examination this year, of whom 5,66,608 cleared it.
Girls outperformed boys, with a pass percentage of 88.70 per cent compared to 83.65 per cent among boys.
Among college categories, residential PU colleges topped with 93.99 per cent results, followed by unaided colleges at 90.73 per cent, aided colleges at 78.72 per cent, and government colleges trailing at 57.11 per cent.
In terms of categories, General and 3A segments recorded the highest pass percentages at 92.69 per cent and 92.22 per cent respectively, while SC and ST categories also saw marked improvement over the previous year.
Medium-wise results indicated that English medium students performed better with 90.63 per cent pass rate, compared to 76.41 per cent in Kannada medium.
A total of 1,70,529 students secured distinction (85 per cent and above), while 2,95,385 students passed in first class.
The Board said students can access their results on the official portal and through mobile applications.
The PUC-2 Examination-2 is scheduled to be held from April 30 to May 13, 2026, with online registration open till April 17.
The Board has also enabled online applications for scanned copies of answer scripts from April 10 to April 15, and revaluation applications between April 12 and April 17, with fees fixed at Rs 530 per subject for scanned copies and Rs 1,670 for revaluation.
