Announcement of IFC to Support Private Sector Steel Company in India May 10, 1989

International Finance Corporation 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. FOR RELEASE: May 10, 1989 CONTACT: Monique Arnaudry Press release No. 89/49 202/473-9331 IFC SUPPORTS PRIVATE SECTOR STEEL COMPANY IN INDIA The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is providing a OM 35 million loan (18.6 million), and investing Rs350 million ($23.3 million) in partly convertible debentures, to support a major modernization program for Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO). TISCO is presently the only private sector integrated steel producer in India. The Company's shares are widely traded on the Indian stock market. IFC is the member in the World Bank Group whose main function is to promote development through the private sector. TISCO's modernization program includes replacement of some of its old blast furnaces by a new blast furnace of 1 million MT per year and improved facilities for finished steel production. The Company, which has facilities ranging from coal and iron ore mining to steel rolling, is India's second largest steel producer after the government-owned Steel Authority of India Limited. TISCO is currently owned 51 percent by the Indian public, 45.4-percent by local financial institutions, and 3.6 percent by Tata trusts and interests. IFC's OM 35 million loan will finance the project's foreign exchange requirements. The local currency requirements will be met by loans from the Steel Development Fund and a public issue to be launched later this month. ••• I ..•