A committee has been set up for revival of loss-making steel PSUs such as Steel Authority of India Ltd and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Parliament was informed on Monday.
The committee consists of members from the Ministry of Steel, PSUs and technical experts, Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai said in the Lok Sabha.
"A committee... has been set up for revival of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL). Experts have submitted reports covering several functional aspects of SAIL and RINL like improvement in techno parameters, marketing and branding, equipment maintenance, product mix, raw material handling etc for improving performance," he said.
The minister put the losses in the two PSUs down to adverse market conditions and lower net sales realisation of steel products. Increase in imported and indigenous coal prices and downturn in the global steel industry, among others, are also at work, the minister added.
Both the companies, he said, have taken various steps to bring down cost of production, namely slashing consumption of BF coke in blast furnaces (BF), increasing production from new facilities, product mix enrichment, reduction in specific power and water consumption and the like.