Tata Steel, JSW Steel, and Adani Group are likely to bid for Neelachal Ispat Nigam’s (NINL’s) in Odisha’s Jajpur district, according to a report published in Business Standard.
On January 8, the Union Cabinet had approved in-principle strategic disinvestment of equity shareholding in the steel plant at Kalinganagar industrial complex. Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation Ltd (MMTC), National Mineral Development Corp (NMDC), MECON and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and the Odisha government hold stakes in NINL.
Analysts believe that the state-level public enterprise with its facilities and a captive iron ore block has the potential to attract bidders.
However, except for its coke oven plant, which is operating at depleted capacity, all other facilities including blast furnace and steel melting shop have been shutdown for over six months for want of capital, the report said.
NINL has been consistently piling up losses for the past five years. In the last fiscal, the state-controlled player showed signs of a turnaround by registering profit at the operational level.
The report further said that there are plans to ramp up the steel plant’s nameplate capacity to 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), from the current 1.1 mtpa. “There is the vision of brownfield capacity being ramped up. The NINL plant can be revived. Besides, the steel plant has captive iron ore mines. The possibility of brownfield expansion and availability of land will be crucial for any bidder,” investment manager, KM Visaria Family Trust, Giriraj Daga was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The prospective bidders, however, refused to comment on their plans to bid for the NINL, it added.
