JSW Steel eyes turnaround of Monnet Ispat in a year

JSW Steel hopes to turnaround Monnet Ispat & Energy in an year's time and merge it with the parent company, a top company official said here.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last week approved a Rs 2,875-crore bid by a consortium of Aion Investments and JSW Steel to acquire the bankrupt Monnet Ispat & Energy, which owes over Rs 11,000 crore to a clutch of lenders. The Aion-JSW consortium was the sole bidder for the 1.5 million tonne asset in Chhattisgrah.

"We will eventually merge Monnet Ispat into JSW Steel and it will be a JSW brand. Our past experience is normally we turn-around in one year, so we hope that will happen," JSW Steel chairman and managing director Sajjan Jindal told reporters on the sidelines of company's annual general meeting (AGM) here.

Replying to query on acquisition of Essar Steel, Jindal said, "The matter is in the court and the NCLAT judgement is expected in the next 2-3 weeks. We will see after that what happens."