Calcutta: The resolution of bankrupt Essar Steel will now be pushed back by at least two months after the company law appellate tribunal ordered a status quo on the insolvency proceeding, when it admitted the petitions of Numetal and ArcelorMittal over their eligibility. The NCLAT directed the resolution professional (RP), the committee of creditors (CoC) and the lower tribunal not to pass any order in the ongoing insolvency process of Essar Steel, including the liquidation of the debt-ridden firm, till further order. The matter will be heard on a daily basis from July 23.

The corporate insolvency resolution process deadline for Essar Steel is May 28. The appellate tribunal, headed by chairman Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, further directed the RP of Essar Steel to ensure the day-to-day running of the company.

Two rounds of bidding have so far taken place in Essar Steel. ArcelorMittal and Numetal participated in the first round, while Vedanta joined them during the second. NCLT Ahmedabad rejected both the bids in the first round and asked the CoC to give ArcelorMittal and Numetal 30 days to cure their ineligibility by paying a loan overdue amount linked to the NPAs they own.

While ArcelorMittal transferred Rs 7,000 crore in an escrow account as an attempt to cure itself, Numetal claimed it to be eligible anyway. It also asked to open the second round of bid, where it claimed to have bid aggressively.

In the first round, ArcelorMittal is believed to have made a cash offer of Rs 30,500 crore compared with Numetal's Rs 19,000 crore. In the second round, Numetal made a cash offer of Rs 37,000 crore, while ArcelorMittal's offer is still unknown.

"We believe we have appropriately addressed the questions the CoC had raised and that there should now be no doubt that we are fully eligible. Numetal was also given the opportunity to cure its first round offer but failed to do so ..." a statement by ArcelorMittal pointed out.

"Numetal has offered to maximise the debt recovery for the Indian lenders with a Rs 37,000- crore cash offer besides injecting significant amount in the company. We believe we are an eligible resolution applicant from day one as per IBC and neither Numetal nor any of its shareholders including Aurora has any overdue loans with Indian lenders," Numetal said.