New Delhi: Three steel majors — ArcelorMittal, world's largest steel company, Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel and Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) — have been shortlisted by the government as bidders for Neelanchal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL), which is slated for disinvestment in FY22. According to a report by Mint, sources were quoted as saying that the request for proposal (RfP) has been issued with the bidders doing due diligence. "The plants of Tata Steel and JSW are nearby Neelachal lspat," one of the two sources was quoted as saying.
The report said that the data room has been opened up for the three shortlisted bidders, who will now participate in the RfP stage. The draft share purchase agreement has been issued and site visits have been scheduled, after which bidders will be supposed to put in financial bids for NINL. SBI Capital Markets Ltd is the transaction adviser appointed by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) for NINL disinvestment process.
On March 29, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey had said that the disinvestment of NINL had moved to the second stage on schedule as multiple Expressions of Interest (EoIs) had been received. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given its in-principle approval for the strategic disinvestment of NINL in 2020.
NINL is a 1.1 MTPA integrated steel plant located in Kalinganagar Industrial Complex in Duburi, Odisha. It has captive iron ore mines in Sundergarh and Keonjhar districts. The steel PSU has a complex shareholding with MMTC holding 49.78 percent, NMDC 10.10 percent, MECON 0.68 percent, BHEL 0.68 percent, IPICOL 12.00 percent and the Orissa Mining Company Ltd 20.47 percent.
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