According to the SAIL Chairman, joint ventures between the public and the private sectors would provide a major boost to the mining sector.
SAIL Chairman S K Roongta told the reporters that, “There are 4-5 big players in the domestic steel industry. I think, now, if they can come together to create a big war chest we can go for big-ticket acquisition of resources which are not available in the country. In the long-run, it is in the interest of the industry”.
He further added that private steel firms were already exploring for such resources in countries like South Africa, Indonesia, and Australia in order to reduce their dependence on expensive imports and cut their input costs.
Responding to the issue of the increase in prices, Roongta assured that the prices of the long and flat steel products would not be increased.
According to the sources, the Essar Group had recently acquired mining properties overseas.
Though the high iron ore and coking coal prices have surged of up to 90% since the last year, thus there has been an increase in the input cost pressure of steel firms. This has lead to higher costs of the commodity in the domestic market.
Reports also confirm that the government is working on a technical collaboration between state-owned SAIL and Japan’s Nippon Steel for the training of the PSU’s staff, which is working on an Rs 70,000-crore capacity expansion program.
The recent proposal of a joint venture between public sector steel major, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and South Korean Posco, is believed to be concluded soon on a positive note.
