Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Bhushan Power & Steel after completing the purchase under the insolvency law, Sajjan Jindal-controlled JSW Steel is eyeing its next big catch by submitting an Expression of interest (EOI) for MMTC- promoted Neelachal Ispat Nigam (NINL).
According to the official reports, the company has submitted an expression of interest (EOI) for NINL and the due date for EOI submission is March 29. NINL is jointly owned by Central and state PSUs with MMTC, IPICOL, NMDC, OMC, as major shareholders. The government had invited EOI for disinvestment of 93.71 percent stake in NINL to a strategic buyer, to be identified through a two-stage auction procedure.
The report further stated that a long steel products unit, NINL has a 1.1 million tonne capacity and produces pig iron and billets. JSW Steel apart, major steel companies like Tata Steel, AM/NS India, and Vedanta-owned ESL Steel are also expected to participate in the disinvestment program of NINL.
With the 2.5 million tonnes BPSL buy, JSW Steel boosted its steelmaking capacity and regained its lost crown as the largest steel player in the country. That’s a spot that JSW had held till 2018, but the auction of stressed steel assets under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) upset the league table when Tata Steel acquired Bhushan Steel having a capacity of 5.6 million tonnes.
Expanding in Odisha would make it more beneficial for JSW Steel, as last year its captive mines won when the Odisha Government auctioned 19 mines. JSW bagged four mines in early 2020 by agreeing to pay a 95-110 percent premium on the ore mined. The mines have reserves of over a billion tonnes.
Even planning is made to set up a 13.2 million tonnes Greenfield plant in Odisha. The Greenfield project, however, is most likely to be taken up after the completion of Brownfield projects. In the offing, is the five-million-tonne expansion at Dolvi which is in Maharashtra, which is expected to be commissioned before June which would take JSW’s capacity to 26.5 million tonnes.
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