The Narendra Modi government on July 4 said it has completed the strategic disinvestment of Odisha-based Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) to Tata Steel Long Products Ltd (TSLP).

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Tata Steel arm TSLP had in January this year won the bid to acquire a 93.71 percent stake in NINL at an enterprise value of Rs 12,100 crore, leaving behind the likes of a consortium of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Nalwa Steel and Power Ltd, and JSW Steel Ltd.

Following that, in March TSLP signed a share purchase agreement with NINL. TSLP's bid was more than double the reserve or base price of Rs 5,616.97 crore for NINL.

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Since the government does not hold any equity in the company, the sale proceeds would not accrue to the exchequer and would instead go to the four central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and two Odisha government PSUs.

The loss-making NINL is a joint venture of four CPSEs — MMTC, NMDC, BHEL, MECON — and two Odisha government PSUs, OMC and IPICOL.

NINL has an integrated steel plant with a capacity of 1.1 million tonnes (MT), at Kalinganagar, Odisha. The company has been running at a huge loss and the plant is closed since March 30, 2020.

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Tata Steel's annual crude steel capacity across Indian operations is nearly 20 MTPA and it registered a turnover of Rs 91,037 crore in FY21. Tata Steel had reported production of 19.06 million tonnes in 2021-2022 fiscal.

The Jamshedpur-based behemoth acquired Bhushan Steel in 2018, followed by Usha Martin in 2019. Tata Steel was established in India as Asia’s first integrated private steel company in 1907 and is a leading global steel company at present.