JSW bid only for rolling plant of Luchini.

The binding bid by JSW Steel is for the three rolling mills of the Piombini plant of Luchini SpA and not any other assets, a senior executive of the company confirmed recently.

'The bid is only for the rolling mills and not for the blast furnace,' clarified Sharad Mahendra, senior vice-president-global sales at JSW Steel. The rolling mill has a capacity of 1 million tonne. The Italian steelmaker had reportedly confirmed that it had received a binding offer from JSW Steel and was considering the offer. Declining to divulge the amount of the bid, Mahendra said that the issue of employabilty of the workers at the plant was being discussed between the two parties. He also expected the issue to be resolved soon. 'The Government of India is now involved in it and we expect it to get solved soon,' he said.

Luchini's trade union has expressed concerns over the aquistion and had asked the bid to include wider operational area including the blast furnace so that most of the workers could be retained.

BS