ArcelorMittal Bids For Odisha Slurry Pipeline, Rival Moves Tribunal

Mumbai: The lenders to Odisha Slurry Pipeline Infrastructure Ltd (OSPIL) intend to stick with ArcelorMittal’s bid for the distressed asset despite a legal challenge by a rival bidder.

Earlier this month, Tamil Nadu-based Thriveni Earthmovers had raised its offer for the distressed iron ore slurry pipeline to ₹4,000 crore. This was higher than the ₹2,200 crore offered by the only other bidder, ArcelorMittal.

Thriveni’s bid included an upfront cash payment of only ₹8 crore, while the rest of the amount was proposed to come in tranches. When the lenders rejected Thriveni’s revised bid, the latter challenged the decision with the Cuttack bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Live Mint reported.

OSPIL owns and operates a 253-km pipeline that connects iron ore mines at Dabuna, Odisha, to a pelletisation plant in Paradip. Essar Steel, which had commissioned the pipeline, sourced about half of its iron ore needs for its plant in Hazira, Gujarat, from Dabuna.