INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - APRIL - MAY 2007
The Month that was ...

SAIL, RINL, NMDC JOIN HANDS

THREE leading steel sector players - SAIL, RINL and National Mineral Development Corp - have teamed up to set up a 4 million tonne steel plant in Chhattisgarh. This is also the first time in over two decades that state owned companies have decided to invest in a greenfield steel plant. On a rough estimate basis, the proposed venture is likely to cost around Rs 15,000 crore.

The decision was firmed up at a meeting in Hyderabad between the chairmen of the three companies - S K Roongta of SAIL, Y Siva Sagar Rao of RINL and B Ramesh Kumar of NMDC. The partners will form a joint venture company to undertake the project. Within the next 60 days, the three partners will enter into a MoU after obtaining necessary clearances, RINL and SAIL said. RINL chairman-cum-MD Y Siva Sagar Rao said from Hyderabad: "We have formed a strategic partnership. Each one of us is likely to take up an equal equity stake of about 33% in the venture. We will, however, work out the details of the financial structure subsequently in an MoU."