Steel Major Jindal Steel Prepays $357 Million Loan; Aims To Be Debt-Free By FY 23

Homegrown steel major Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) on Sunday said its wholly-owned subsidiary in Mauritius has prepaid $357 million to lenders.

This prepayment will help clear the entire debt on Jindal Steel & Power (Mauritius) (JSPML). This loan had corporate guarantees from JSP India, which will also get released, JSPL said in a statement.

"Jindal Steel & Power (Mauritius) has prepaid a $357 million loan to its lenders. (Entire) overseas debt will get entirely paid in the coming quarters," it said.

Over the past three years, JSP has reduced its overseas debt to $130mn post this payment from $1.8bn. The bulk of JSP's overseas debt now sits in its Australian subsidiary ($113mn). The Group plans to repay this loan by September 22. JSP Group's net debt has come down from a peak of 46,500cr to 10,981cr in December 2021.

As per the company statement, JSPL Group's net debt has come down from a peak of Rs 46,500 crore to Rs 10,981 crore in December 2021.

"We are prepaying our lenders to strengthen our balance sheet, and we want to become a net debt-free company by FY23 through accelerated deleveraging. The company is aligned with the India growth story. We will expand our steelmaking capacity to over 15 MTPA by 2025," V R Sharma, Managing Director, JSPL, said.

JSPL is a leading Indian Infrastructure Conglomerate in the Steel, Power, and Mining sectors. With an investment of approximately $12 billion (90,000 Crore Rupees) across the globe, the company is continuously scaling its capacity utilization and efficiencies to contribute towards building a self-reliant India.

According to additional information shared by JSPL, the Mauritius-based subsidiary is the holding company for its overseas mines and minerals assets.

"The loan was taken for acquiring mines and mineral assets to provide raw material security to JSPL India steel operations primarily," it said.