Top bidder for JAL was never disclosed: Resolution professional on Vedanta's claim

Mumbai: Resolution professional of infrastructure company Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) on Friday informed the appellate tribunal that mining firm Vedanta Ltd had no basis to infer that it was the highest bidder for JAL’s assets, as the details of the top bidder were never disclosed during the insolvency resolution process.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Delhi bench, led by Ashok Bhushan, was hearing Vedanta's plea challenging Adani Enterprises as the highest bidder in the JAL insolvency case.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing resolution professionals, said, “One of the biggest methods of drawing attention to some kind of big sensational issues is to suggest that we (resolution professionals) declared Mr (Abhijeet) Sinha’s client (Vedanta) to be the best, the highest, or the most appropriate and then we suddenly changed it. The very premise of this submission… as if I have declared you as the highest and then shifted it. That would be unfair if it would have happened, and completely without foundational facts."

Vedanta had earlier informed the appellate court that it had submitted an overall bid of about ₹17,000 crore, translating to about ₹12,505 crore on an NPV basis, and argued that it offered better value.

Adani’s resolution plan, pegged at ₹14,543 crore, includes an additional ₹800 crore towards capital expenditure and working capital, taking the total to about ₹15,343 crore. Against admitted claims of about ₹60,637 crore, this translates into a recovery of around 24%.

During the previous court hearings, the lenders defended their decision, maintaining that resolution plans are evaluated on multiple parameters, including upfront cash, feasibility, viability and execution timelines, not just headline value or NPV.

Vedanta’s legal counsel Sinha refuted these allegations as ‘baseless’ and said they have “not suppressed any documents and presented everything in court”.

The battle between mining firms for JAL comes on the back of a bidding war for nearly 4,000 acres across Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna Expressway, along with hotels, commercial assets, cement capacity and a Formula 1 racing track.

The next hearing is scheduled for 20 April, when the committee of creditors (CoC) represented by solicitor general Tushar Mehta is expected to respond.

JAL went into bankruptcy in 2024 and owes more than ₹50,000 crore as debt to creditors.

The resolution plan was approved by the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 17 March, following which Vedanta moved the NCLAT and the Supreme Court, seeking to halt it.

On 6 April, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had declined to interfere with orders of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the NCLAT, which had cleared the way for the plan’s rollout. However, the court directed the committee overseeing the resolution to seek prior NCLAT approval before taking any major steps.