The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) handed over Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL’s) assets worth Rs 4,025 crore to JSW, which successfully bid for BPSL under the insolvency resolution process. The restitution of the assets to JSW is result of a Supreme Court order on 11th December 2024.
The enforcement directorate had attached the properties of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd after it found the company and its promoters diverted bank funds to private investments in the form of shares and properties. ED investigation also revealed that the books of accounts were fudged to show fake expenses/purchases/capital assets and thereby bank funds were taken out in the form of cash.
The diversion of funds resulted in financial distress of the BPSL, which ultimately landed in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) in 2017. The company was bought by JSW through insolvency process which lasted over two years, and JSW’s resolution plan was approved by the NCLT in September 2019. The resolution plan of JSW had the provision of making a payment of Rs 19,350 crore against the outstanding loans of Rs 47,204 crore.
Despite the approval of the resolution plan, the enforcement directorate attached properties of BPSL, forcing the lenders as well as JSW to move the Supreme Court against the attachment.
