SAIL has asked ArcelorMittal to expedite the process for signing a definitive agreement to set up a joint venture for high-end automotive steel plant, a senior official said Friday.

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Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said the PSU would soon get an edge over others in quality steel production as it is on track to ink the pact.

Last year, SAIL's board had approved a proposal to enter into a joint venture with ArcelorMittal for manufacturing high-end automotive steel. SAIL had said that the definitive agreement in this regard will be finalised in due course subject to financial viability.

"There is no delay on the part of SAIL. I am keen and I wanted it by December 2018.

"Only yesterday, I wrote a letter to ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi N Mittal asking he should set his things right and we should start working on this very closely so that at least in next one month we are able to complete it...They want to go ahead, their stand is clear, our stand is clear. We want to complete the JV pact at the earliest," SAIL Chairman Anil Kumar Chaudhary said Friday.

The minister and the chairman were speaking at an event to mark the PSU's 60 years of production.

"We have communicated to ArcelorMittal that the time has come that we should expedite things and we should be able to close all the agreements in a time-bound manner," the chairman further said.