The Indian government has announced that Tata Steel Long Products Limited (TSLPL) will acquire state-run steel producer Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) which had been put up for privatization, a government statement said on Monday, January 31.
TSLPL’s highest bid of INR 121 billion ($1.61 billion) has been approved by India’s Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Tata company will thereby acquire 93.71 percent equity of NINL currently held by various central and Odisha government agencies, a statement issued by the Department of Public Investments and Asset Management (DIPAM) said.
NINL operates a 1.1 million mt steel mill located at Kalinganagar in the eastern state of Odisha.
The equity capital of NINL is held by government trading firm MMTC Limited (49.78 percent), government iron ore miner NMDC Limited (10.10 percent), steel consultancy firm MECON (0.68 percent), government engineering company BHEL (0.68 percent), Odisha government’s IPICOL (12 percent), and Odisha government mining company OMC Limited (20.47 percent).