Consensus on SAIL JV in 2 months

New Delhi: Consensus on signing the JV deal between SAIL and ArcelorMittal for an auto-grade steel plant is likely in two months at the instance of Niti Aayog, an official said. The country’s largest steel maker had sought help from Niti Aayog to resolve differences with ArcelorMittal over setting up of Rs 5,000-crore steel plant. “A consensus on signing of the joint venture may be reached in two months,” the official said.

Almost a month back a meeting was called by Niti Aayog wherein both companies were asked to firm up their joint venture agreement, the official said. “Both the companies had issues, including pricing mechanism for raw material,” the official added.

The government had earlier said that the proposed auto-grade steel plant would be set up close to an automobile hub. SAIL and ArcelorMittal had in May, 2015 entered into a MoU to explore the possibility of setting up an auto-grade steel manufacturing facility under a joint venture in India.

A task force comprising representatives from both ArcelorMittal and SAIL has been working on detailed due diligence and preliminary feasibility study and all other issues for setting up the joint venture company.

The JV will also focus on producing specialised grade steel products for defence, space and automobiles. It will construct a cold rolling mill and other downstream finishing facilities in India, touted as one of the fastest-growing automotive markets in the world with production expected to double between 2014 and 2020, from 3.6 million units to 7.3 million units.