The delay, it said, has been due to regulatory bottlenecks. “I am hopeful that the merger will take place by the end of this year,” NMDC Chairman Rana Som said.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the mining major said, “...that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) while hearing the petitions filed by the Company, has fixed the final hearing date for the 6th October, 2009.” The hearing is fixed to assuage concerns  of the shareholders or any related party on the proposed merger.

Shareholder approval
In June, the proposed merger received approval from the shareholders. The Steel Ministry had approved the proposal last year. Post-merger, NMDC plans to invest about Rs 1,200 crore in the secondary steel maker SIIL. It plans to expand annual production capacity of SIIL and diversify it into making long steel products consumed primarily by the construction industry.