Suspense prevailed over the reports that the Indian steel and energy company, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, had bagged a portion of order to supply rails to Iran for a major railroad expansion plan.
The order to supply 300,000 tons of rail to Iran was bagged by India’s state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited in 2013. The Iranian authorities had demanded 18 meters of rail that SAIL was in fact not manufacturing. Its only entity manufacturing rails, Bhilai Steel Plant, had imported the required equipment but it could not be installed because of some technical reasons, according to Indian newspaper Business Standard.
Reports circulating in the market said JSPL had managed to get a part of the order awarded to SAIL. Following the delay on the part of SAIL, half of the order, which amounted to 150,000 tons, had been given to JSPL, the report added. SAIL is however concentrating on the Indian Railway orders as it is the sole supplier.
JSPL had neither denied nor confirmed the reports. The company spokesperson refused to respond to an email sent to know the status of the report, as JSPL had been exercising to get the order.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the SAIL following the development told Business Standard that there was nothing on paper.
“We had cross-checked with the authorities concerned and they had denied that JSPL had been awarded the contract to supply,” the official said. As of now, JSPL had nothing in writing to supply rails to Iran.
