Business Secretary Sajid Javid held talks with Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai ahead of the company's board meeting later on Wednesday, which is expected to produce a shortlist from among the bidders."Government officials said they were confident the offer of state support would be enough to secure a sale."What we want is for Tata to be a responsible seller but also find the right buyer.The British government is keen to avoid job losses just weeks before a referendum on membership of the European Union and has offered financial support to help find a new buyer for Tata Steel UK.However, the Guardian newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that while Tata was running its sale process, it was also considering keeping the UK business as it evaluated the performance of its operations and the package of support being offered by the government. As I have always said, there are no guarantees, we can't guarantee this is going to work but we are doing everything we can.Britain's steel industry is not alone in facing tough market conditions, with producers across Europe and the United States also struggling."(Javid) is really encouraged by all the proposals that were submitted.One of the major hurdles that Britain is looking to remove from the sales process is a 485 million-pound ($710 million) deficit in pension scheme liabilities, although the government said it could not yet comment on exactly how it planned to mitigate that liability.

Tata's decision has turned the spotlight on the global steel market and the impact of Chinese exports that could lead to protectionist trade policies. Javid has spoken to each of the bidders."We continue to work towards trying to get a good outcome for Tata in south Wales, the sales process is under way, there has been an encouraging number of serious offers coming through," Cameron said on a flight to Japan for a G7 meeting.Britain's steel industry has been hit by cheap Chinese imports, high energy costs and a global supply glut and in March Tata said it wanted to sell its remaining plants in the country, putting 15,000 jobs at risk.The government has said such support is likely to take the form of loans on commercial terms, and could see the government take an equity stake of up to 25 per cent.The BBC  hexagonal nuts Suppliers reported that ministers were expected to announce on Thursday proposals to overhaul the pension scheme, and the government was considering cuts to pension benefits to help smooth a sale.."Sources told Reuters on Tuesday at least four individual bids had been submitted, from management buyout vehicle Excalibur Steel, entrepreneur Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House metals group, India's JSW Steel Ltd and investment firm Greybull Capital. What they will have in return is one of the best, most committed workforces in the UK.Cameron said: "We have just got to stick at it and do everything we can to try to bring this to a successful conclusion. I would describe it as a productive meeting," a government source said.As well as poring over the details of the bids, the two hours of talks focused on the government's willingness to back the sale with hundreds of millions of pounds of support.

Any announcement on which bids Tata is looking to pursue could come later this week.SAVING THE INDUSTRYTata steel workers highlighted their plight with their protest march on Wednesday past Downing Street and Britain's parliament. London/Japan: Tata Steel has received a number of serious offers for its businesses in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday as steel workers marched past Downing Street to put pressure on the government to get a deal. Earlier on Wednesday, 12 global steel associations urged the G7 to prevent cheap Chinese steel distorting world markets and inflicting further pain on producers."It's not just about steel. A Tata Steel executive said the company was in the process of evaluating bids for its British assets.Tata's decision has turned the spotlight on the global steel market and the impact of Chinese exports that could lead to protectionist trade policies. Tata did not comment on the bidding process. We have to secure the manufacturing base in the UK," steel worker Ian Williams, 32, from Tata's Port Talbot plant in south Wales, told Reuters

The key factors that led to stress in the steel sector have largely been ambitious overseas acquisitions, capacity expansions and the subsequent fall in exports due to protection measures initiated by various countries primarily resulting in capacity overhang.

The capital-intensive steel industry is considered to be the largest contributor to the overall NPAs, which is over 9. One aspect is clear that no acquisitions are warranted in the current situation."The top five large steel entities under stress have an aggregate debt of Rs 1,48,290 crore.The sector is also a net forex spender and needs to focus on import substitution products. The top five troubled steel companies -- Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel, Monnet Ispat, Electrosteel Steel and JSPL -- are seen to have the maximum NPA problems, the report said.Commenting on the outlook, the report said unless domestic  China carbon steel nuts Manufacturers demand moves up especially in value added steel, reflecting improvement in capacity utilisation and operating margins reasonably enough to service debt.Even in current fiscal (FY2018), the topline and mid-line numbers for some integrated players are likely to pose better numbers, the report said.Since the sector is employment intensive, the socioeconomic impact is wide and hence led to protectionist measures, it said.  

This has led to the sector getting a bad name for few constituents not adhering to their commitments, the report said. This is also likely to improve capacity utilisation, the report said.All large integrated steel entities have not fared bad in FY2017. The ministries of finance, steel and the PMO coming together to solve the NPA problem is expected clear the major roadblock for banks to lend to the sector," said the report by SBI Research.Integrated steel still remains competitive and some time it may be required to examine its cash flow to decide its way forward.The government spending in affordable housing, roads and defence are some of the key growth areas that may be targeted in the future.The steel sector has its own share of problems with companies not funding their portion of equity to ramp up the net worth. However, some of the integrated steel sector may  undergo consolidation and revive hopes when demand for steel inches up, SBI Research said.Mumbai: The government move to address the non-performing assets (NPAs) pain in the steel sector is expected to clear a major roadblock for the banking sector to resume lending to the crippled segment, said a report on Thursday.In February 2017, the government indicated its preference on use of local steel for its orders. The domestic steel industry is now more dependent on government policy based on anti-dumping duties and rationalisation of import duties.6 per cent of the system. Utilising capacities and optimal product mix remain the key assessing factors as of now, the report added.