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The metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, a potential buyer for the Port Talbot steelworks, has said he believes he can revive Tata Steel's UK business without any job losses at the plant. Gupta
said it would take years to make the Tata Steel business viable, but added that his Liberty House company was interested in acquiring the assets, including the Port Talbot site in south
Wales, which employs 4,000 workers. Tata's total UK workforce is 15,000. Speaking before a meeting with the business secretary, Sajid Javid, on Tuesday, Gupta said the biggest obstacle
to reviving the loss-making business was the giant blast furnace at Port Talbot. But he suggested it could be possible to switch to arc furnaces to recycle scrap steel instead of importing
raw materials and then exporting scrap. Asked if he thought the business could be overhauled without job losses, Gupta said: "Yes, absolutely, that would be my intention." Liberty
House already owns steel plants in the UK, including in south Wales, and has been taking on assets affected by the crisis in the steel industry. It reopened a steel mill in Newport, south
Wales, last year after spending two years reviving the site. Last month, Gupta also bought two mills in Scotland that had belonged to Tata Steel. Gupta told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme that he believed 2,000 of Port Talbot's workers employed at the blast furnace could be redeployed within the business. He has argued for some time that British steel's
future lies in recycling scrap rather than importing slabs to be melted down. But Gupta warned that it was early days and that his company had not had the chance to inspect Tata Steel's
business or talk to it or the government. "What anybody looking at this prospect must contend with is: 'What is the main problem of the viability of this business?' The main
problem we see is the blast furnace, because they are importing all their own materials … It will take years to make this transition from blast furnaces to arc furnaces, but there has to be
a long-term plan." Gupta said Tata Steel's pension fund, with 130,000 members and liabilities of almost £15bn, was another barrier to a rescue. He declined to say whether Liberty
House would buy Tata Steel's UK business if the pension fund were separated off. "It is certainly an issue that has to be tackled, but for us the focus is the absolute viability of
the plant first," he said. Gupta will meet Javid, who has faced fierce criticism for his handling of the steel crisis, before the business secretary flies to Mumbai for talks with Tata
chiefs. He was in Australia when Tata announced its plan to sell the UK steel business last week and was forced to return to the UK.