The story
Founded by Ravi Ruia and Shashi Ruia in 1969.1
In 1969, Shashi Ruia won a contract worth Rs. 2.3 crore for the construction of an outer breakwater for Chennai Port, thus laying the foundation of Essar Group.
In 1991, Essar started a 515 MW cycle power plant at Hazira. It later built and operated national power plants in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, and internationally in Ontario, Canada.
In 1992, Essar acquired the South India Shipping Corporation.
In 1995, Essar Group entered the telecom sector with a Swiss PTT joint venture partnership branded as the Essar Cellphone. In the same year, Essar Group started GSM operations from Delhi. Essar, independently and in partnership with Hutchison (Hutchison Essar), subsequently acquired more telecom circles in India. By 2006, all the circles were under Hutchison Essar Limited. Vodafone bought the Hutchison stake, and Hutchison exited India in 2006. Essar Group continued to have a 33% stake in the Vodafone Essar partnership. In 2011, Essar sold its stake and exited the telecom business.
In 2006, Essar Oil imported its first consignment of 2.2 billion crude oil at Vadinar in Gujarat.
In 2007, Essar owned The MobileStore, an Indian chain of telecom and mobile phone retail stores.
In 2017, Essar Steel India Ltd. (ESIL) was on the defaulter's list disclosed by the Reserve Bank of India. Essar Oil was acquired by a consortium led by Rosneft, Trafigura, and UCP Investment Group for $12.9 billion, and Essar Oil was rebranded as Nayara Energy.
In 2018, Essar signed an offtake agreement with GAIL for Raniganj East CBM block production. Essar Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Ltd. (EOGEPL) owns coal bed methane producing block in Raniganj, West Bengal.
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In 2019, EOGEPL received environment clearance for exploring shale gas reserves in Raniganj block, West Bengal.
In November 2019, ArcelorMittal won approval from the Supreme Court to take over Essar Steel and pay the creditors with equal rights. ArcelorMittal’s bid of Rs 42,000 crore was considered over Essar’s bid of Rs 54,000 crore.
In March 2020, Moneycontrol reported that Essar Group had cut down debt by 70% to about ₹12,000 crore.
Press research from 2026 showed that in 2020 the Essar Groups debt with the Russian state controlled VTB Bank rose to Euro 2,35 billion.
Essar has established Vertex Hydrogen in the UK.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the following sanctions against representatives the VTB bank, press research indicates that Essar moved it's management for the dept with the Russian bank from Cyprus in the European Union to Mauritius, where the sanctions did not apply.
In September 2022, Essar Oil UK completed an offtake agreement with Vertex Hydrogen to facilitate hydrogen supply of 280 MW to decarbonize its plants.
In November 2022, the Essar Group reportedly became debt-free after clearing $25 billion in liabilities, following the sale of its power plant and captive ports to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel at a deal value of $2.05 billion.
From Wikipedia’s article on Essar Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4