JSPL, the homegrown steel giant, said on Sunday that its subsidiary in Mauritius has made a $357 million upfront payment to lenders. The prepayment will help settle the entire debt on Jindal Steel & Power (Mauritius) (JSPML), according to Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL).
“Jindal Steel & Power (Mauritius) has prepaid a $357 million loan to its lenders. The (entire) foreign debt will be fully repaid in the coming quarters,” it said.
In the past three years, JSPL said, it has managed to reduce its foreign debt from $1.8 billion to $130 million.
Most of its foreign debt is now in its Australian subsidiary at $113 million, it added.
In September 2021, JSPL had announced a $106 million upfront payment to the backers of its branch Jindal Steel & Power (Australia) Ltd. According to the company statement, JSPL Group’s net debt has fallen from a peak of Rs 46,500 crore to Rs 10,981 crore in December 2021.
“We are prepaying our lenders to further strengthen our balance sheet and aim to become a net debt-free company in FY23 through accelerated deleveraging. The company is in line with India’s growth story. We will expand our steel production capacity to over 15 MTPA by 2025,” said VR Sharma, Managing Director, JSPL in the statement.
According to additional information shared by JSPL, the Mauritius-based subsidiary is the holding company for its overseas mines and minerals.”
The loan has been entered into for the acquisition of mines and mineral assets to primarily provide raw material security to JSPL India’s steel business,” it said.
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