Steel crisis: Business chief raises hopes of saving steel plant jobs

Sanjeev Gupta made it clear it was "early days" in the sale process but raised hopes that jobs could be saved

Tata Steel has decided to put all of its British operations up for sale (PA)

The head of a group which could rescue steel plants and save thousands of jobs said he is aiming to avoid any redundancies if a deal is agreed.

Sanjeev Gupta, the head of the Liberty Group, will have talks with the Government today over the prospect of taking over the loss-making assets of Indian giant Tata.

He made it clear it was "early days" in the sale process but raised hopes that jobs could be saved, especially at the huge plant in Port Talbot, South Wales.

He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that the business could be turned around.

Asked if redundancies could be avoided, he said: "That would definitely be my objective."

Mr Gupta said production could be expanded but with different methods.

Liberty has not even started due diligence as it was not expecting Tata to make its announcement so quickly, he said.

"This is my first day back in the UK. I am still to engage fully. We will see how the week unfolds."

He added it would take years to make the transition on production changes.

Mr Gupta said pension liabilities were an issue but the most pressing need was to ensure the viability of plants.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid will travel to Mumbai on Tuesday night to meet the chairman of Tata as efforts to save thousands of jobs are stepped up.

He will hold talks with Cyrus Mistry to discuss details of the sales process for the firm's UK steel operations.

Mr Javid was in Australia on a business trip when the announcement was made a week ago, leading to union claims that he had "taken his eye off the ball".

Mr Javid will join a meeting in Downing Street with Prime Minister David Cameron and the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, before holding talks with union leaders later on Tuesday.

Leaving Downing Street, First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones, said the meetings with the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had been productive.

He said: "If a buyer comes forward then the time scale of negotiations will be extended.

"Tata have a good reputation worldwide, they will not want to lose that, and they will ensure that as a responsible seller.

"We don't have all the time in the world, that's true, but we will now work quickly to ensure that any potential deal is done.

"At the end of the day, this is about saving jobs and not just in Wales, but also in parts of England as well."

Asked if the Government should consider nationalising Tata's UK steel plants, Mr Jones said he "wouldn't use the word nationalisation".

He added: "They [Tata} want to make sure that their assets are in a sellable position, but when people come to talk about nationalisation they tend to talk about an indefinite takeover of an industry.

"What we want to do here is to keep our options open, to make sure that there is time for a sufficient buyer to come forward."

Mr Jones said there wasn't an issue with pensions in the talks, adding that the process of safeguarding Tata employees' pensions were "recognised during the meeting".

He added: "The Government has indicated that they want to take steps to help with that liability, because we know that without that being dealt with there won't be a sale."

The ongoing debate about the need to reduce energy tariffs for heavy industry was also moving forward, Mr Jones said.

Mr Jones said later: "My message to the Prime Minister this morning was simple: these plants cannot close.

"The meeting was constructive and the PM and I agreed to meet and talk regularly, given the urgency of the situation. We know there are potential buyers out there - but there's still a lot of work to be done. We discussed pension liability, energy costs and tariffs and I was glad to hear from the Prime Minister that nothing is off the table.

"We will continue to work with the UK Government to secure a buyer, to save jobs in these communities and the future of steel-making in Wales."