Govt approves strategic disinvestment of Salem Steel Plant

Government has in-principle approved strategic disinvestment of loss-making subsidiary of India’s largest steelmaker SAIL, Salem Steel Plant (SSP) and the Parliament was informed about it on Monday.

SSP, a special steel unit of state-run SAIL, pioneered the supply of wider width stainless steel sheets and coils in the country.

“The government has accorded in-principle approval of strategic disinvestment of SSP in Salem district of Tamil Nadu,” Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

SSP is a loss-making unit of Maharatna firm SAIL, he added.

“It has been consistently making losses for the last 5 years despite investment of around Rs 2,200 crore by SAIL under the modernisation and expansion project of SSP,” the minister said.

The Salem plant can produce austenitic, ferritic, martensitic and low-nickel stainless steel in the form of coils and sheets with an installed capacity of 70,000 tonnes per annum in cold rolling mill as well as 3.64 lakh tonnes a year in hot rolling mill.

Its steel melting shop can produce 1,80,000 tonnes of slabs per annum. Besides, the plant has the country’s first top-of-the-line stainless steel blanking facility with a capacity of 3,600 tonnes per year of coin blanks and utility blanks/circles.