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Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister of Steel, Chemicals and Fertilizers has welcomed the Union Cabinet’s decision and has thanked the Union Cabinet and Prime Minister for granting approval to the proposal to merge Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
The Minister further said that it is a win win situation for both entities . The merger will bring together physical resources of IISCO and the financial , technological and managerial resources of SAIL, he reiterated .
Shri Paswan has further said that the merger of IISCO with SAIL was a long pending demand from various quarters and he had given an assurance in the Budget Session of the Parliament that approval of the proposal would be obtained by June and all other formalities for the merger will be completed before the end of this year.
The Minister further stated that the IISCO is a 100 per cent subsidiary of SAIL. IISCO was ailing since 1994 but had found the corner in 20030-04 and is now earning profits now. The accumulated losses of the Company were Rs.954 crores in 2003-04. These losses have further come down in 2004-05 whereas the SAIL’s profit of Rs. 2500 crore in 2003-04 has been topped by a profit of Rs.6817 crore in 2004-05. As such the merger will not require any Government support.
Shri Paswan also added that IISCO had enormous iron ore deposit in its Chiria and Gua Mines, huge coal reserves in Chasnala, Jitpur and Ramnagore and sufficient land for further expansion. Currently, IISCO’s capacity of finished steel is 3 lakh tonne . The Company could not realize its full potential due to lack of enough investment for modernization and expansion. With this merger, IISCO will get ready access to the financial resources of SAIL. He has further stated that SAIL is already preparing an ambitious, modernization and expansion plan for IISCO.
SKM:PM
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