Mumbai, Nov 19 (IANS): Strong buying interest was seen in the PSU banks stocks on Tuesday. While the Nifty PSU Bank index was up over 4.5 per cent, sharp gains were seen particularly in Oriental Bank of Commerce, up 19 per cent and Syndicate Bank, up 15 per cent.

Central Bank of India gained over 10 per cent followed by Union Bank, J&K Bank, up in the range of 7 to 10 per cent. PNB and SBI advanced in the range of 1 to 3 per cent.

This comes after the Supreme Court last week cleared the way for global steel giant Arcelor Mittal's Rs 42,000 crore acquisition of debt-laden Essar Steel, after a two year long legal battle that tested India's bankruptcy law.

The court set aside a ruling of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and said that operational creditors cannot be on a par with financial creditors of a bankrupt company.

While SBI, Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank have exposure of Rs 13,220 crore, Rs 3798 crore and Rs 2936 crore respectively to Essar Steel, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Corporation Bank have exposure of Rs 2,122 crore, Rs 1,985 crore and 1,566 crore respectively.