Bajaj Hindusthan plans to infuse fresh equity into business: Chairman Kushagra Bajaj

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, one of India's largest sugar and ethanol producers, is looking to turn the corner by putting its debt issues behind. In an interview, chairman Kushagra Bajaj told ET's Deborshi Chaki about the group's plans to infuse fresh equity into the business, which will entail zero haircut for the lenders. Edited excerpts:Where are you with your conversations with the lenders of Bajaj Hindusthan to reach a settlement? There was an error of judgment on our part when we defaulted and, by the time we rectified the mistake, the matter had already reached NCLT.

However, as part of efforts to revive the company, we have offered to invest ₹2,500 crore as fresh equity of which ₹1,000 crore has already been infused. As things stand, we are inactive discussions with our lenders for a resolution, which will entail zero haircut for any of our creditors. We are hoping that the resolution plan will be a win-win for all our stakeholders which includes our employees, investors and thousands of farmers who are part of the group's extended family.

We are mindful of our legacy of trust, transparency and fair play, and it is a business which has been in family since 1926. We truly value our relationships with our stakeholders, especially lenders. We have a track record of honoring our commitments to them for close to 100 years now.What timelines are you looking at with regard to reaching a settlement with banks? I wish it happened yesterday, but things take time.

Operationally there has never been any problem with the company and the real issue here is the extra debt that we took upon us. From a production perspective Bajaj Hindusthan is still the largest producer of sugar and ethanol. We have 14 manufacturing plants, and they