The Indian government has paused its disinvestment plans for state-run steel mills like Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL), government sources said on Wednesday, April 28.
The sources said that the government will not take the next step in pushing ahead with its disinvestment plans since all focus is currently on bringing the second wave of the pandemic under control.
Also, how long the present wave of the pandemic will continue and its impact on overall economic growth are uncertain and, under present circumstances pushing ahead with disinvestment is unlikely to fetch the correct valuation of the assets, the sources said.
The Department of Public Investment and Management (DIPAM) had already announced that it received multiple responses to the expression of interest (EoI) seeking private investors for disinvestment of NINL, with sources stating that these included interest from private domestic steel companies like Tata Steel, JSW Limited and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited (AMNS).
The government has already approved disinvestment of its stake in RINL, but is yet to float an EoI seeking private investors, the sources added.
Unofficially, the Ministry of Steel had set a target of completing the disinvestments in the current fiscal year.