Betting on India's growth, top steel firms in midst of big expansion plans
Back
Mining and metals giant Vedanta, announced that it had decided to initiate a strategic review of its steel and steel-making raw material businesses.
The review would begin immediately and evaluate a broad range of options, including but not limited to a potential strategic sale of some or all of the steel businesses, the company said in its stock exchange filing.
The signs have been there – approaches had been made to steel players over the past year. Last December, Anil Agarwal, chairman Vedanta group, told Business Standard that the steel plant capacity was about 3 million tonnes (mt).
“We have to take it to 15-20 mt. We are either in that business or we are not.” Vedanta’s philosophy is to be in the top three in any business that it operates. But to get there would require huge investments.
That’s because the top three on the steel league table are sitting on a high perch – JSW Steel at 27.7 mt, Tata Steel 21.6 mt, and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) at 19.53 mt.
And they are also upping the game.
Vedanta entered the steel sector in 2018 with the acquisition of Electrosteel Steels for Rs 5,320 crore under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), outbidding Tata Steel.
It was on the Reserve Bank of India’s first list of non-performing assets (NPAs) to be resolved under the nascent insolvency law.
(Source : Rediff.com)
