The ministry of steel has decided to merge the ailing Indian Iron & Steel Co (IISCO) with its parent, Steel Authority of India.

The merger is subject to approval from the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) under which sick IISCO is currently registered. IISCO is currently in rehabilitation mode, implementing a Rs.341 crore revival package suggested by BIFR.

IISCO's main contribution would be its rich Chiria iron ore mines in Jharkhand that SAIL is interesting in developing further with an investment of Rs.1,000 crore.

IISCO is India's oldest steel plant set up in the 1870s under British regime. It was nationalized in 1972 and made subsidiary of SAIL in March 1979. IISCO is an integrated steel producer with its own mines and finished steel making facilities. The end-products made by IISCO include billets, structurals and spun pipes.