India’s Ministry of Steel is preparing a working paper exploring details of a possible merger of two state-run steel producers, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), a senior ministry official said on Tuesday, December 11.
The official said that the paper is part of the overall goal of the Indian government to ultimately create a domestic steel behemoth, merging all government owned and operated steel companies.
The working paper on the merger of NINL and RINL will lay down the roadmap for the merger of the two companies, the official said, but added that the final decision will be that of India’s cabinet of ministers.
The Indian government currently holds 100 percent equity in RINL which operates a 6.3 million mt per year steel mill in the southern Indian coastal town of Vishakhapatnam. NINL which operates a steel mill in eastern state of Odisha, is controlled by state-run trading firm MMTC Limited which holds a 49.78 percent stake, Industrial Promotion Corporation of Odisha Limited (IPICOL) which has a 15.29 percent stake, while the remaining shares are held by various other Indian state-owned companies.