There is no freeze in the privatization of Indian government-run steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the Indian ministry of steel said in a statement issued on Monday, April 17.
The ministry statement effectively denies a statement made by the junior minister of steel, Faggan Singh Kulaste last Friday to the effect that “the government will strengthen and not privatize” RINL.
The ministry in the new statement claimed that, even while the privatization of RINL is under process, the operations of the 7.3 million mt capacity RINL is “being strengthened”.
The Indian government had approved the privatization of RINL in January 2021, triggering off protests from workers and employees of the steel company and from opposition political parties at the state and central levels.