The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday, October 12, scrapped the strategic sale of SAIL's Visvesvaraya Iron & Steel Plant (VISP) in Karnataka due to insufficient bidder interest.

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The expression of interest (EoI) for selling SAIL's 100 percent stake in VISP, Bhadravathi in Karnataka, was invited on July 2019.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said multiple EoIs had been received and qualified bidders had conducted due diligence.

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"However, due to insufficient bidder interest in proceeding further with the transaction, Government of India, with the approval of Alternative Mechanism (Empowered Group of Ministers) has decided to annul the EoI and thereby terminating the present transaction," DIPAM said.

In 2019, DIPAM invited the EoI from bidders for SAIL's Alloys Steels Plant (ASP), Salem Steel Plant (SSP), and VISP.

State-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is the country's largest steel maker with a capacity of over 21 million tonnes per annum. All three units of the steel giant have been making losses.

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The government has set a target of Rs 65,000 crore from divestment in 2022-23 (April-March), out of which it has already raised Rs 24,544 crore.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)