RESTRUCTURING
STEEL PLANTS
Steel Authority of
India Ltd. (SAIL) had engaged M/s. McKinsey & Co. in 1998
to prepare a 'Competitiveness Plan" for the company. The consultants
examined some steel units of SAIL namely, Alloy Steel Plant (ASP),
Salem Steel Plant (SSP) and Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Ltd. (VISP).
According to McKinsey
recommendations, the optimal course of action for ASP would be
closure. Other measures should be to minimise losses through reduction
in workforce, transferring hot metal from Durgapur Steel Plant
etc. The main course of action available for VISP is divestment,
so that the Joint Venture (JV) partner could open export markets
and invest further in the plant, adding more value. Formation
of a Joint Venture is best course of action for Salem Steel Plant.
The Joint Venture partner, by providing backward integration for
steel making and by opening new exports markets can make the unit
viable in the long run.
This information was
given by the Minister for Steel Shri B.K.Tripathy in a written
reply in the Lok Sabha today.
