‘Posco can have majority stake in JV with SAIL’

NEW DELHI - The union government is not averse to Posco securing majority stake in the proposed Rs.12,000 crore joint venture between the South Korean steel giant and the state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said Monday.

“In principle, we are not opposed to giving a majority stake to Posco in the joint venture, for which we will be seeking cabinet approval in a couple of months,” the minister told reporters on the sidelines a global conference of engineers.

SAIL and Posco are negotiating a joint venture to set up a 1.5 million tonne integrated plant in Bokaro to produce high grade steel from low-grade iron ore and non-coking coal by using the world’s third largest steel company’s FINEX technology.

“The agreement between the companies is expected in the next two-three months,” Singh said.

Steel ministry officials had said the plant, to come on about 2,500 acres within SAIL’s steel plant at Bokaro, would cost about Rs.12,000 crore.