Government likely to sell 5 per cent stake in SAIL

Mumbai: The new government plans to sell a 5 per cent stake in state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd this fiscal year ending March, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Production of finished steel grew by 1.5 per cent during the period at 21.86 MT over the same period last year. SAIL, RINL, Tata Steel and other major players cumulatively produced 11.34 MT clocking a growth of just two per cent, the JPC said.

Contribution of mini and small firms' production rose by 0.3 per cent during the period. India exported 1.34 MT of finished steel during April-June period clocking a 18.5 per cent growth over a year ago, imports also went up. During the period, India's import of finished steel saw a growth of 11.8 per cent to 1.49 MT.

India's steel consumption grew by just 0.6 per cent in the 2013-14 fiscal, the slowest in at least four years, to 73.93 MT. Exports grew by 4.1 per cent at 5.59 MT, while imports were down by 31.3 per cent during the period 5.445 MT.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who won a landslide election victory in May largely on a promise of economic growth, is expected to speed up divestments to bolster revenue generation.