The Centre has approved extending the Navratna status to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited up to November 15, 2014, to facilitate its listing.
Disinvestment in RINL, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, is pending for a long time due to volatile market conditions. It has been proposed to undertake disinvestment by diluting 10 per cent equity of the government. In most likely, the Rs.2,500-crore IPO will hit the market after April.
The Navratna status was extended keeping in view RINL’s performance and its completion of 6.3 million expansion project. RINL Chairman-cum-Managing Director A. P. Choudhary, while acknowledging the help extended by the government, indicated that RINL was on a strong footing with the completion of expansion.