Tata Steel Mining Ltd becomes successful resolution applicant for Rohit Ferro-Tech Ltd
Tata Steel Mining Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel Limited, has become the successful resolution applicant for Calcutta-based ferrochrome maker Rohit Ferro-Tech Ltd.
Ten bidders, including Vedanta Ltd and Jindal Stainless, were vying for the company’s assets which include three ferrochrome plants, one in Odisha and the others in Bengal. It also has a stainless steel unit in Bengal.
Rohit Ferro-Tech’s creditors committee approved TSML’s resolution plan on June 5, which also received and accepted the letter of intent to acquire the company. The plan will be implemented after receiving the required approvals from the National Company Law Tribunal.
TV Narendran, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Steel, told The Telegraph: âTata Steel has a rich history in chrome ore mining and has one of the largest ferroalloy companies in the world. The acquisition of Rohit Ferro-Tech will strengthen our position in the company.
TSML was selected as the anchor company to carry out the commercial mining activity of Tata Steel Group. This is one of four verticals that the parent company is forming to foster scale and synergy of operations.
The acquisition of RFT will enable TSML to double its ferrochrome manufacturing capacity to 900,000 tonnes per year. One of Rohit Ferro’s factories is located just 40 kilometers from Tata chrome ore mines in Jajpur district of Odisha.
âTata Steel Mining was created as a vehicle for
allows us to leverage our position as one of the oldest and largest miners in the country, âadded Narendran.
TSML has ferrochrome factories in Athagarh and Gopalpur in Odisha and three chromite mines, namely Sukinda, Kamarda and Saruabil, in Jajpur.
The Tata company had acquired the mines during the 2020 mineral auctions for which leases were granted for 50 years. The mines are now operational with an annual capacity of over 1.5 million tonnes, making it the largest player in chromium ore mining in India.
RFT’s other ferrochrome plants are located in Bishnupur and Haldia in Bengal. The stainless steel factory is in Bishnupur. The company produced 56,400 tonnes of ferroalloys, according to the annual report, in 2019-2020, up from 63,749 tonnes a year earlier. It also produced 55,750 tonnes of stainless steel during this fiscal year.
He was sent for the corporate insolvency resolution process by order of the Calcutta Bench of the NCLT on February 7, 2020, and Supriyo Kumar Chaudhuri has been appointed as a resolution professional. RFT owes Rs 3,901.93 crore to financial creditors, led by the State Bank of India, which held nearly 50% of the votes in the CoC. Sources said Tata’s offer could be in the range of Rs 500 crore.
TSML was a late participant in the fray for Rohit. He submitted an expression of interest after the deadline for submitting the expression of interest. However, the CoC allowed the Tata company to participate in order to maximize the value of the debtor company.