Reacting sharply to the rejection of its bid for Bhushan Steel & Power on Wednesday, Liberty House said it will approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) so that its proposal is considered.
"Our bid was submitted before (other) bids were opened, so nothing unfair has happened," a spokesperson for Liberty House told Moneycontrol.
The last date for submission for bids for the troubled steelmaker was February 8. Tata Steel and JSW Steel had submitted their bids, and the Tata company is said to be the front-runner.
Liberty House's bid came after the deadline, and is the reason why the Committee of Creditors - consisting of the lenders - rejected it.
The company spokesperson though said that while the 'creditors wanted to open our bid,' they were advised against it by the lawyers.
"We will go to the NCLT and ask them to direct the RP (resolution professional) and CoC to open our bid. The process is not supposed to deny creditors to recover more money on these bad debts, that would not be fair as this is public money," said the spokesperson.
Mahendra Khandelwal, the RP responsible for the auction, refused to comment.
"We are hopeful that the NCLT would clarify and our bid would be opened," said the Liberty House executive.
The technicalities
It is, however, not clear if the NCLT will directly consider a bid. According to lawyers Moneycontrol spoke to, the resolution professional is the one who admits bids, examines them and then forwards the proposals to the Committee of Creditors (CoC).
The CoC then engages directly with the bidders and aims to get the best possible deal. The final decision is taken by the NCLT, which also announces the result of the auction.
To invest $10 billion in India
For Liberty House and its Chairman Sanjeev Gupta, the auction of the stressed asset is an opportunity to leapfrog into the Indian market. Talking to Moneycontrol earlier, Gupta had mentioned that the company is keen to invest USD 6.8 billion in steel, auto and recycling sectors.
The spokesperson added that "these assets are among the best in the world, they fit perfectly in our strategy for steel and for auto. If we are successful on BPSL and our other bids, we will set up the best steel and auto business in the world. This will include production of EV cars... the same model as we are doing it in Australia, UK and US."
Apart from Bhushan Power & Steel, Liberty House is also interested in Amtek Auto and ABG Shipyard. Both the companies are being auctioned by the NCLT.
Since 2013, Gupta has bought and turned around 25 facilities in the UK and Australia.
"India should encourage entrepreneurs like us to invest in India. If we are successful in our bids we will invest $10 billion in India over the next five years," said the spokesperson.
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