What was changed
Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL), a steelmaker in Odisha promoted separately from Bhushan Steel, defaulted on its loans and was pushed through India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. JSW Steel won the IBC auction with a resolution plan worth ₹19,700 crore, which the NCLT approved, and completed the acquisition in 2021 after a legal fight that only ended when the Supreme Court finally upheld the plan in September 2025.
The bet worked because JSW treated BPSL as a plant to be run. It took control in 2021 and raised capacity at the Sambalpur works from 2.75 million tonnes per annum to 4.5 Mt, describing the former 'sick unit' as a profitable company employing about 25,000 people with FY24 revenue of ₹21,440 crore, selling coils, bars and wire rod across eastern and northern India.
In December 2025 JSW brought in Japan's JFE Steel as a 50:50 partner, selling half the business for ₹15,750 crore at a ₹31,500-crore equity value, transferring ₹5,000 crore of debt into the joint venture and cutting JSW's net debt by about ₹37,250 crore. The JV plans to double the plant to 10 Mt by 2030 using JFE's technology, with land to go further to 15 Mt.
What it achieved
Turned a 2.75-Mt bankrupt plant into a profitable 4.5-Mt company (FY24 revenue ₹21,440 crore); JFE paid ₹15,750 crore for 50%, cutting JSW's net debt ₹37,250 crore.
Why it worked
JSW bid ₹19,700 crore through a court-supervised IBC auction, buying a fully permitted steel plant and iron-ore mine without the old promoter's liabilities.
It ran the plant for growth, lifting capacity from 2.75 Mt to 4.5 Mt and selling into the fast-growing eastern Indian market, instead of mothballing it.
The turnaround made the asset attractive enough for JFE to pay ₹15,750 crore for half the company in 2025, monetising value JSW had created.
The JV lets JSW keep operating and expanding the plant to 10 Mt by 2030 while the ₹37,250 crore deleveraging funds its other growth projects.
What can be applied
A distressed industrial asset pays off when the buyer operates it, not just owns it: JSW lifted capacity to 4.5 Mt, then sold half to a strategic partner at a valuation that repaid the bet.
Aftermath
The December 2025 joint venture with JFE Steel transfers BPSL's Odisha integrated steelworks to a 50:50 company that aims to expand crude steel output to 10 million tonnes by 2030 and potentially 15 Mt later. For JSW the deal cut net debt from about ₹80,000 crore toward ₹43,000 crore and net-debt-to-EBITDA from 2.97x to about 1.15x, freeing cash for a planned 25-Mt port-based plant at Paradip. For India's IBC, BPSL showed distressed steel assets bought under the code can be revived into profitable operating businesses rather than liquidated.
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