Kolkata: The business restructuring of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has run into rough weather with the company facing difficulty in hiving off Salem steel plant (SSP) and Alloy steel plant (ASP), besides failing to implement the strategic business unit plan.

SAIL sources said that the process of hiving off Salem steel plant was hampered due to political interference and opposition by trade unions while there was no taker for the Alloy steel plant at Durgapur.

Both SSP and ASP were scheduled to be transformed into joint ventures by the end of last month.

The sources said that if the impasse continued Salem steel plant would suffer most as SAIL was in no position to invest for the backward integration of the plant. The joint venture in SSP was thought of basically to improve the plant's viability.

Tata-Usinor and Jindal-ALZ of Belgium had shown interest in SSP, the sources said.

Despite floating tender, no company had shown interest in ASP, the sources said adding that efforts were on to minimise the loss in the plant.

The company had also failed to implement the much-hyped Strategic Business Unit (SBU) plan, which was supposed to have been put in place by April 1, 2002.

The sources said that SAIL could not go ahead with the SBU plan unless it received approval from the government.

As per the SBU plan, SAIL's flat products plants at Bokaro and Rourkela would be part of one SBU and long products plant in Bhilai and Durgapur would be part of the other.

PTI