India's Essar Steel, facing growing pressure from its lenders to cut its debt burden, has appointed ICICI Securities and SBI Capital Markets as advisers to help it sell a stake in the business, the company said.
Essar Steel along with much of the industry is suffering from the impact of Chinese over-supply and falling prices. Furthermore, the group had already announced plans to raise funds by selling some of its non-core assets.
"Major steel companies across the world are taking suitable steps to cut costs and raise money. India is no different," Essar said in a statement posted on its website.
"It is in this context that Essar Steel has taken a proactive decision to induct strategic/financial investors into the company," it added.
China, which makes nearly half the world's 1.6 billion tonnes of steel, is expected to export a record 100 million tonnes this year to help address its spare steel-making capacity.
India imposed a 20% import tax on some steel products in September to mitigate the damage to domestic companies.
Essar Company is part of the Essar Group, one of India's highly indebted conglomerates. The group has separately signed a non-binding agreement to sell up to 49% of their subsidiary Essar Oil to Russia's top oil producer "Rosneft".
