Indian Steel Ministry plans to merge IISCO with SAIL
Indian Steel Ministry has recently announced that it plans to merge Indian Iron & Steel Co Ltd (IISCO) with Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and it has given up the idea of privatizing Salem Steel Plant (SSP). However, it also stated that development of IISCO is to be followed and then a precise decision will be taken regarding the merger with SAIL. Provided that the merger takes place, SAIL, currently suffering from iron ore shortage, may benefit from IISCO's iron ore mine at Chiria. In the case of privatizing of SSP, Ministry announced that SSP has started registering profits, hence privatization of the mill is not to be mentioned for the time being. Moreover, Steel Ministry refused restoration of Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) incentives for exports, claiming that priority should be given to the problem of huge steel demand in domestic market, then the problems regarding exports should be discussed.