The Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (Visakhapatnam steel plant) has received the CII-ITC sustainability award 2012.

Loss due to non-revision of domestic prices by the company in line with movement of market price

Iron ore miner NMDC has suffered Rs 745.94 crore revenue loss during 2007-10 for not revising the domestic prices of the steel-making raw material in line with prevailing market rates, government auditor CAG said. "...Due to non-revision of domestic prices by the company (NMDC) in line with movement of market price, the company has suffered a revenue loss of Rs 754.94 crore during 2007-10," CAG said in a report, tabled in Rajya Sabha, today.

Hyderabad: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, the corporate entity of Vizag Steel, is mulling setting up of a cement plant as part of its plans to dispose byproducts such as slag and fly ash, a senior company official said.

RINL may also enter into a long-term contract to supply these byproducts to prevent their accumulation that can lead to environmental issues. "We may enter into a joint venture partnership for setting up a cement plant," the official said.

Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Monday urged the Uttar Pradesh government to expedite the procedures for the lease of iron ore mines in Lalitpur district of Bundelkhand region to the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).

“We are confident the state government would soon take positive steps in this direction,” Verma said here. RINL had already applied for the lease of iron ore mines in Lalitpur district for setting up a pellet unit in the region. A P Chaudhary, Nigam chairman and managing director, said the plant would provide direct employment to 500 locals.

Mumbai The government intends to start its 2012-13 divestment plan by offloading a further 10% stake in the state-owned iron ore producer, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), through the offer for sale (OFS) mechanism for nearly R7,000 crore.

Even though the government had to defer its plans of diluting stake in other public sector entities, such as Steel Authority of India (SAIL) in 2011 and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) in the recent past, due to valuation concerns, the NMDC follow-on public offer may not face such hurdles, say market experts.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the mines ministry had moved a note for the sale of the government’s residual stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) and Bharat Aluminium (Balco).

The matter would go to the Cabinet and the finance ministry would give its views in due course, he said. And, declined to comment on the pricing, noting he’d earlier recused from this matter.

In a blow to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), the Odisha government has refused allotment of iron ore mines in favour of the navratna PSU.

The state government has communicated its decision to the steel maker, citing its inability to allot iron ore mines since it has already decided to reserve all the balance mineral bearing areas in favour of its own PSU- Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). “Your request for allotment/reservation of good iron ore blocks in Odisha in favour of RINL may not be considered as the state government through a resolution dated September 18, 2012 has decided to reserve the remaining area bearing iron ore for undertaking prospecting or mining operation through OMC”, B Behera, under secretary (steel & mines) wrote to RINL's chairman and managing director.

Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma today pulled up SAIL and RINL over their "unsatisfactory" performances and said the two public sector firms could have fared better if their expansion and modernisa

NMDC has raised iron ore prices by 8-13 per cent for domestic sales

Fearing a further squeeze on profit margins, steel manufacturers have sought intervention of the ministry of steel in the issue of the recent “arbitrary” price increase in iron ore price by state-owned NMDC. In a letter dated August 30, signed by Alok Chandra, chairman of the Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association (Sima), steel and sponge iron producers argued that NMDC’s price rise came even as the the price of iron ore had declined substantially in global markets. NMDC has raised iron ore prices by 8-13 per cent for domestic sales.