In order to create a steel company of global scale and bring down costs of production, the Committee on Public Undertakings suggested the merger of state-owned steel giants Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL).
In a recent report, the panel, which is a body of Lok Sabha members, asked the government to specify clearly its stand on the issue and apprise it on the same.
The production capacity of SAIL, which is one of the largest domestic steel companies, stands at 14.6 million tonne per annum (mn tpa). It has embarked on a capacity expansion to take it to 26.2 mn tpa.
Vizag-based RINL currently has a capacity of 2.9 mn tpa, which is expected to go up to 6.3 mn tpa in the next fiscal.
The merger would help the two state-run steel makers to acquire global size of operation, it had earlier observed. The panel had also said the merger would also enable them to synergise operation and bring down the cost of production.
The committee expressed concern that the Action Taken Reply of the government is completely silent on this aspect.
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