The Narendra Modi government’s proposal to completely privatise Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), also known as Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, is getting good response from the steel giants across the country.
If it was Tata Steels of Jamshedpur which evinced interest in taking over the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant a few days ago, it was the turn of Gujarat-based Arcelor-Mittal Nippon Steel India (AMNSI) on Monday to come forward for buying the total stake in the Vizag Steels.
According to industry reports, AMNSI, a multinational steel giant owned by NRI Lakshmi Mittal who purchased France-based Arcelor Steels long ago and has tie-up with Japan-based Nippon Steels, is planning to bid for the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, which has a production capacity of 7.3 million tonnes per annum.
A tweet from the company said Lakshmi Mittal had met Union finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman on Thursday last and evinced interest in bidding for the Vizag Steel Plant.
“We are examining the options of bidding for the steel plant,” company sources said.
Recently, Tata Steel Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director T V Narendran also announced that his company was interested in acquiring the RINL and it would file the bid for expression of interest in this regard.
"Yes! Also, because for inorganic growth for long product opportunities... There is a great opportunity because it is east as well as it is south, it is a coastal plant so there are many advantages...," he told a news agency.
The RINL has approximately 22,000 acre of land and enjoys access to Gangavaram Port, where raw materials such as coking coal etc arrives.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on January 27, gave its 'in-principle' approval for 100 per cent disinvestment of government stake in RINL, also called Visakhapatnam Steel Plant or Vizag Steel, along with RINL's stake in its subsidiaries/joint ventures through strategic disinvestment by way of privatisation.
