Essar Steel planning to raise $2 billion to trim debt

In a bid to retire the rupee debt, Essar Steel, part of the diversified Essar Group is planning to raise $2 billion from overseas by the end of first quarter of the current financial year. The fund raising will help the company in dollarising its balance sheet with reduction in interest rate. The conversion of rupee loans into dollar will also increase the tenor of repayment to an average of around 10 years. The company, which has a total debt of around Rs 26,000 crore, will also increase its focus on exports in the current financial year by taking it to 30 per cent of the total sales from present 25 per cent. Essar Steel, as part of its business activity of steel manufacturing has a gas plant which produces oxygen, nitrogen, and argon gases, while Inox Air Products is engaged in the business of manufacturing and supplying industrial gases across India.