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The joint venture between the state-owned Steel Complex Ltd (SCL) and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) will be formally launched on February 13.
The transfer of Government shares in SCL to the joint venture as also the laying of foundation for the re-rolling mill coming up in the company's premises will take place on that day.
The State Government and SAIL will have 50:50 equity participation in the joint venture and they will have two directors each in the four-member director board. While the management control of the company will be vested with SAIL, the State Government will appoint the chairman.
The re-rolling mill, being set up with an outlay of Rs 47.64 crore, is envisaged to have an annual capacity of 65,000 tonnes. Once operational, the mill will open up direct and indirect employment opportunities for around 100 people.
Rehab plan
As part of the rehabilitation plan for SCL, the State Government had repaid liabilities to the tune of Rs 7.87 crore to State Bank of India through a one-time settlement scheme. Also, it had written off the company's loans and sales tax and electricity arrears.
SCL was commissioned in 1973 and it was subsequently taken over by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation in the wake of continuous losses incurred by it. Later, the State Government took over the direct control of the company.
Though the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction came out with a rehabilitation package in 1995, the company continued to face problems and by 2001, it had come to the stage of undertaking only conversion works. The joint venture with SAIL was announced in 2008.
The company, which was mainly converting scrap into billets for private parties, has started its own production over the last couple of years. In 2007-08, the production went up to 6,400 tonnes from 1,900 tonnes in 2005-06 and made a profit in 2009-10.
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