A DECISION could be made this week on who will take over Tata Steel’s plants.

The Indian conglomerate threw the steel industry into crisis at the end of March when it announced it would sell of its entire UK operation - including Llanwern - in the face of falling profits and rising costs, putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk.

Since then seven potential bidders have stepped forward and the firm’s board is due to meet in Mumbai tomorrow, where it will draw up a shortlist of three bids before making a final decision.

It was reported yesterday morning that Excalibur Steel – a firm made up of bosses from Tata’s UK operations – was scrapping its bid and teaming up with rival bidder Liberty House, which is owned by Monmouthshire businessman Sanjeev Gupta, but this was later denied.

The UK Government’s Business Secretary Sajid Javid, who came under fire for not attending the meeting where the closures were announced, will be in Mumbai tomorrow.

The Government has previously said it would be willing to take a stake of up to 25 per cent in Tata - which also has sites in Caerphilly, and Port Talbot, as well as across the UK - in order to help the sale process.

But former pensions minister Steve Webb warned a ‘quick fix’ solution on Tata’s pension scheme could put millions of other pensions at risk.

Mr Webb, now director of policy at pensions and investment firm Royal London, said: "The desire to save steel jobs is entirely understandable, but there are huge risks if a quick fix for this problem were to undermine the carefully constructed pension protection framework.

"The pensions of millions of workers and pensioners depend on employers honouring the pension promises that they have made.

“A deal on Tata must not create a precedent or a loophole which could be exploited by firms keen to walk away from their pension liabilities."