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UK Business minister to meet Cyrus Mistry

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Press Trust of India London
UK business secretary Sajid Javid is set to meet Tata Steel's chairman Cyrus Mistry in relation to the group's plans to exit the UK steel industry.

Javid will hold talks with Mistry to discuss details of the sales process for the firm's UK steel operations as British government seeks to find a solution to the steel crisis.

The news came as steel unions in the country called on Prime Minister David Cameron to personally intervene in the ongoing emergency talks in London to save Britain's steel industry from collapse.

Tata Steel announced last week it was selling its loss-making UK businesses and would close its plant at Port Talbot unless a buyer is found.
 

The company directly employs 15,000 workers in the UK and supports thousands of others, across plants in Port Talbot, Rotherham, Corby and Shotton.

Britain's steel industry has been thrown into crisis by a combination of cheap imports from China, falling global demand, high energy prices and a tougher tax regime than many rival nations.
(Reopebns FGN 35)

Codenamed "Project Greensteel Pluto", the takeover is aimed at ultimately powering steel-making through renewable energy sources.

Liberty had recently completed its acquisition of two Scottish plants earlier owned by Tata Steel and the firm's Long Products division based in Scunthorpe had been sold to Greybull Capital for a token 1 pound last month.

Central to the Indian steel giant's assets in the UK is the Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales, which is the UK's largest and employs around 4,000 workers.

Tata's remaining assets include sites at Newport, where more than 1,300 people are employed, and Rotherham, which employs 1,200.

Tata also has operations at Corby, Shotton and Teesside.

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First Published: Apr 05 2016 | 5:57 AM IST

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