The Indian government will go ahead with the strategic sale of part of its equity in state-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited’s (SAIL) subsidiary Salem Steel Plant (SSP), while not completely divesting its stake in the company, steel minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh informed the Indian parliament on Monday, July 31.
The minister said that the government has proposed the sale of minority equity in SSP to a private investor, adding that there is no plan for complete disinvestment of the government’s equity in the company.
Minister Singh said that the once premier stainless steel producer in the country has been in a “dismal” state for the past several years and consequently commercial bankers and financial advisors have been appointed by the government to explore the invitation of a strategic investor in SSP, to which the government would sell part of its existing equity holding.
SSP produces about 339,000 mt of high grade stainless steel per year.