Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday ruled out any divestment in the companies under the ministry and said the department had not received any letter from the finance ministry over the issue.

"There is no question of divestment. Not even in the loss making companies," Paswan told reporters in New Delhi.

Asked whether the ministry had received any letter from the finance ministry suggesting dilution of government equity in the PSUs, the minister replied in the negative, saying, "there is no proposal".

The Divestment Development: Complete Coverage

He said the PSUs under the ministry were making good profit, barring two -- Hindustan Steel Constructions Ltd and Bharat Refractories Ltd, for which the department was preparing revival packages.

Paswan said the government had appointed A F Fergussen as a consultant for HSCL, which has a loss of Rs 96 crore (Rs 960 million). BRL had a loss of Rs 5.5 crore (Rs 55 million) in 2004-05.

He said the net profit of SAIL increased 171 per cent to reach Rs 6,817 crore (Rs 68.17 billion) and that of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd grew by 30 per cent to touch Rs 2,006 crore (Rs 20.06 billion).

SAIL gave a dividend of 1,363 crore (Rs 13.63 billion).