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British Business Secretary Sajid Javid met Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry on Friday to discuss the proposed sale of Tata Steel’s assets in the UK. While the details of the discussion were not disclosed, an industry source indicated that there may have been some agreement on a roadmap.
“Just finished meeting with Tata Steel in Mumbai. Now off to Delhi for talks on UK/India trade,” Javid tweeted. The Tata Steel board also met later to discuss the future of its British operations.
On Thursday, the Tata Steel UK employees union threatened the company against a fire sale of its more profitable speciality steel business, leaving aside the Port Talbot and UK strips plants.
In a letter written to Tata Steel management, Britain’s largest employees union Unite asked Tata Steel to give a binding commitment on the future of Port Talbot and its UK steel strips business.
Unite has over 1.4 million members working across all sectors of the economy.
The development follows unconfirmed reports that the steelmaker was planning to pause its proposed sale of loss-making UK units, while going ahead with a separate sale of its speciality steel business and tubes operation.
The British government has been trying to help Tata Steel through special legislation aimed at lowering pension costs. It has also offered loans while investing in the business through share purchase.
Javid also met Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi later on Friday, but there was no discussion related to Tata Steel.
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