“It’s great that Liberty, and there are others that have shown interest, it’s great that this interest is out there”.
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Workers from Port Talbot steelworks, backed by union leaders and politicians, are aiming to turn up the heat on the Government in their battle to save their jobs and their community.
The Welsh First Minister has said a No 10 steel summit was “encouraging” – as Business Secretary Sajid Javid meets a potential buyer for the Port Talbot steelworks.
Tomorrow he is due to meet the Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai. Gupta said the United Kingdom government appears highly supportive and is proactively engaged in finding a long-term solution.
David Cameron, speaking later in Birmingham, said the Government was “determined to help in every way we can”. There’s a lot of detail there to work out and of course it depends on who the buyer is. “It is vitally important that all parties work together to formulate a plan that is attractive to any interested buyer”.
Yesterday steel workers unions called for a “protective arm” from the United Kingdom and Welsh Governments and warned the loss of the industry would have an impact on everyone’s lives.
Mr Gupta said production could be expanded but with different methods. The Opposition leader will add: “The government must act now to protect the steel industry”.
Mr Jones said there was not an issue with pensions in the talks, adding that the need to safeguard Tata employees’ pensions was also recognised during the meeting. Indian-origin Gupta has emerged as a potential acquirer with a plan to revive Tata Steel UK.
If a solution is not found soon, manufacturers’ supply chains will be severely impacted, dealing a blow to thousands of smaller firms across the country and creating a logistical headache for the auto industry.
He said Liberty House’s alternative suggestion would be to still make hot metal, but to make it from local raw scrap material rather than imported raw material.
Tata has plants in Wales at Port Talbot, Llanwern and Orb in Newport, Shotton in Flintshire and Trostre in Llanelli. Last month, Gupta also bought two mills in Scotland that had belonged to Tata Steel.
The development follows a visit last Friday by Mr Javid to Port Talbot when he assured anxious steelworkers he was doing all he could to save their jobs.
“But Government support is needed to bridge the 2-3 years it will take to get back to self-sustainability”.
Gupta indicated Tata Steel’s pension fund, with 130,000 members and liabilities of nearly 15 billion pounds, could prove a barrier to rescue.
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“These are the kind of things we have already thought of, we have already started working on and what I hope is that you will have the offer document from Tata, overlay on top of that the help the British government can provide and then you have the makings of a successful deal”, he said.
