Govt invites bids for privatisation of NMDC’s Nagarnar Steel Plant

New Delhi: The government invited preliminary bids for the strategic sale of NMDC's Nagarnar Steel Plant on Thursday. The last date for submitting bids for NMDC Steel Ltd is January 27, 2023, while the last date for submitting queries is December 29, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said. NISP is in the process of being demerged from NMDC into a separate company NMDC Steel Ltd (NSL). Subsequent to demerger, shares of NSL will be listed on BSE, National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Calcutta Stock Exchange.

Govt will divest its 50.79% shareholding in NSL

NSL will have mirror shareholding to NMDC in which government's shareholding is 60.79 percent and public shareholding is 39.21 percent. Thereafter, the government, via DIPAM, shall divest its 50.79 percent shareholding in NSL along with management control to a strategic buyer through a two-stage competitive bidding process. Demerger scheme has already been approved by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on October 6.

In the first stage, the government is inviting EoIs from interested bidders for the sale of its 50.79 percent shareholding in NSL, the DIPAM said.

NMDC is setting up 3-MTPA NISP at Nagarnar

NMDC is setting up a three-million tonne per annum (MTPA) NMDC Iron and Steel Plant (NISP) at Nagarnar near Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh. NISP is under construction and is likely to be commissioned by March 2023.

In October, 2020, the Union Cabinet gave its 'in-principle' approval to the demerger of NISP from NMDC and strategic disinvestment of the resulting entity by selling entire stake of the government.

Subsequently, the government had decided to divest its 50.79 percent shareholding in NMDC Steel Ltd along with management control. Additionally, government shall offer 10 percent stake in NMDC Steel to NMDC after the strategic buyer is identified through the bidding process.

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