India Court Halts $2.8 Billion Bhushan Power Sale to JSW Steel

An Indian court temporarily halted JSW Steel Ltd.’s $2.8 billion purchase of insolvent Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd., a move that hurts the South Asian nation’s effort to clean up the world’s worst bad-debt pile.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal ordered a freeze on payment by the Sajjan Jindal-led mill and took objection to the Enforcement Directorate, the federal anti-money laundering agency, taking over the assets of the bankrupt steel mill. The agency is investigating allegations of money laundering by former owners of Bhushan Power and Steel.

“No one will come to invest,” Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, ...