An inter-ministerial group of the Indian government will hold a meeting next week to try and break the deadlock over the proposed joint venture of Indian state-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and global steel producer ArcelorMittal, a senior government official said on Thursday, June 2.
The government official said that the intervention regarding the joint venture project has been initiated by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi as the $756 million joint venture has not made any headway since last year when the two companies announced the project for production of automotive grade steel.
According to the official, at several meetings between the two companies, no agreement could be reached as to the shareholding pattern of the two companies in the proposed joint venture.
Last year, the two companies announced while signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that basic raw material would be supplied by SAIL, while ArcelorMittal would be the technology supplier for value-added production of automotive grade steel.
It was pointed out that a meeting of Indian government officials to kick-start the project was held earlier this week but, since agreement on the shareholding issue remained inconclusive, the government inter-ministerial group will take it up again next week together with both companies.