The Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) has not been told by the Chief Minister’s Office to submit an expression of interest (EoI) to participate in the bidding for repairing blast furnaces and providing working capital to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. With Thursday being the deadline for bids, it seems unlikely that SCCL will submit an EoI without government instructions. One member of an official delegation that visited the steel plant to examine the possibility of investing Rs 5000 crore in VSP stated that SCCL has not done any documentation work for an EoI due to the absence of instructions from the government.
The government’s main challenge is raising funds to acquire the steel plant. Although SCCL denied reports that it was in financial trouble on Wednesday, officials believe that a well-informed decision should be made before investing Rs 5000 crore in VSP. It was previously suggested that if SCCL did not file an EoI, the State Irrigation department or Telangana State Mineral Development Corporation (TSMDC) could consider it. However, neither department has made any preparations to submit an EoI so far.
