Steel Authority of India (Sail) will continue to operate its three loss-incurring steel plants, if no buyers are found, said news reports quoting the company’s chairman, Anil Kumar Chaudhary.
Three steel units, namely: Alloy Steels Plant in West Bengal; Salem Steel Plant in Tamil Nadu and Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant in Karnakata.
Alloy Steels Plant has an annual capacity of 0.5mn mt.
Salem Steel Plant in Tamil Nadu with an installed capacity of 70,000mt can produce austenitic, ferritic, martensitic & low-nickel stainless steel in the form of coils & sheets from cold rolling mill and 36,000mt from hot rolling mill. Its steel melting shop has an annual slabs production capacity of 1,80,000mt.
Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant in Karnakata has an annual capacity of 216,000mt of hot metal and 98,280mt of alloy & special steels.
The three units incurred a total loss of Rs370 crore in fiscal 2018. The plants will continue to operate as per demand at a lower capacity.
Earlier in July 2019, the Indian government had approved the sale of these facilities. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had invited bids from global and domestic companies for 100pc stake sale in these plants as a part of government’s strategic disinvestment goals, but could not find suitable buyers.