In a major setback to Tata Steel, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has ordered the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Bhushan Power and Steel to allow all the bidders to revise their bids and submit them at the next hearing on Monday.

The final three bidders for the stressed Bhushan Power are JSW Steel, Tata Steel and UK-based Liberty House.

In a letter to the CoC earlier this week, Tata Steel had objected to JSW Steel’s revised bid of ₹19,000 crore (up from ₹11,000 crore). It has claimed that its bid of ₹17,000 crore had already been declared the highest bid on June 16, and there is no concept of re-bid under the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) guidelines for State-run banks. It also said NCLAT had refused to allow a re-bid.

UK-based Indian businessman Sanjeev Gupta-owned Liberty House had offered to pay ₹18,500 crore up front 12 days after the deadline, surpassing Tata Steel.

‘Better offer’

Submitting the three bids in a sealed cover to the NCLAT on Wednesday, the senior counsel for CoC said that it has received a revised offer from one of the bidders, which appears to be better than the previous one.

Scheduling the next hearing for August 17, Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya, Chairman, NCLAT, said all the resolution applicants could submit revised offers by Monday and only the financial part of the resolution plan be changed.

“The court’s direction to the CoCis a major victory for JSW as its revised bid would yield more money for the banks,” said a source close to JSW Steel.

In its last hearing on July 20, NCLAT directed the CoC to consider all three bids — Tata Steel, Liberty House and JSW Steel — and submit the list of both the highest and the second highest bidder on August 1, so that the adjudicating authority could approve one in case of any problems with the first resolution plan in future.

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