India’s Adani Group, a business conglomerate with diverse interests in cement, ports, energy and logistics, is planning a foray into steel by bidding for state-run steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) which has been put up for privatization, according to a number of local media reports on Wednesday, September 21.
Though Adani Group has not yet commented, reports suggest that it will bid more aggressively than other likely participants like Tata Steel and JSW Steel Limited.
Adani Group recently completed the acquisition of two cement companies - ACC and Ambuja Cements - from Holcim, Switzerland, in a deal estimated at $10 billion, to emerge as the second-largest producer of the commodity in the country.
Adani Group in January this year announced a pact with POSCO of South Korea to jointly invest $5 billion in constructing a greenfield steel mill project at Mundra, in the western state of Gujarat, based on green hydrogen.
RINL operates a 7.3 million mt per year capacity steel mill at the southern port town of Visakhapatnam, with the government already approving privatization through 100 percent sale of equity currently held by the government.