SAIL Near To Taking Over Malavika Steel

New Delhi: The state-owned Steel Authority of India is understood to be taking over Malvika Steel, bids for which were submitted today and are scheduled to be opened on April 13. SAIL confirmed that the company had put in a bid for Malvika Steel, saying the company could get a ready-made plant via the acquisition. The Malvika bid was a part of the company''s strategy to buy other steel assets in the country. It is also targeting the National Iron & Steel Company in West Bengal. The Debt Recovery Tribunal is auctioning the entire plant, located on 740 acres of land in Jagdishpur, located in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, in order to recover outstanding loans. The reserve price is Rs 194 crore. The entire dues realised from the property are payable to IFCI. The Rs 3,000 crore steel project was left half unfinished in 1998, within 10 months of getting off the ground. Malvika Steel owes nearly Rs 1,366 crore to IFCI. Over the last one year, IFCI has recovered around Rs 1,000 crore from the sale of various non-performing assets, which as of March 2006 stood at around Rs 4,500 crore