British businessman Sanjeev Gupta, who heads the company which has bought the Whyalla steelworks, has said "the sky's the limit" when it comes to the site's potential but has kept his bid and job growth prediction under wraps.

Mr Gupta toured the Arrium steelworks today and met workers after Liberty House, which is part of London-based GFG Alliance, was announced the winning bidder.

Arrium was placed into voluntary administration by its directors in April 2016 and its sale has been approved by a committee of creditors.

Arrium employs 5,500 people across Australia.

Mr Gupta revealed his plans to invest "well over $1 billion" in the Whyalla business in the short to medium term and has "far grander plans" in his sights.

"There are long-term plans which could be far more exciting, far more grand in terms of steel capacity here," he said.

Sanjeev Gupta says he will continue to be involved in the steelworks business. ( ABC News: Nick Harmsen )

"Potentially this place has the infrastructure — the port, the layout, the mining, all of it to be a substantial steel plant of several million tonnes."

He again declined to say how much his company's winning bid for Arrium was but said the process would be completed by the end of August.

"I wouldn't call it a bargain," he said.

While he said jobs would be created, he declined to speculate by how many.

"It's not rocket science to work out if you have the raw material here," he said.

"... To make steel you need almost three to four tonnes of raw material, to ship the raw material to the other ends of the world and they can make steel competitively, we can't do it here that doesn't make any sense."

Mr Gupta thanked the workforce for its commitment which included taking a 10 per cent pay cut and vowed with the right passion and management the steelworks would reach its potential of being a world-class facility.

"The uncertainty in terms of the future of this plant is now over," he said his message to workers would be.

Whyalla mayor Lyn Breuer at the steelworks with new owner Sanjeev Gupta and MP John Rau. ( ABC News: Nick Harmsen )

"We have a lot of work to do together and a great future ahead, but we need to work together to make changes because this is not currently a sustainable world-class plant — it needs to become one."

Mr Gupta said GFG Alliance was not looking for grant support from governments but "guarantees on our spend here".

Federal Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Arthur Sinodinos said Mr Gupta had "courage" to take on the business and federal and state governments would be supportive.

'I haven't sold a business yet'

Earlier today Mr Gupta downplayed the description that he would be the "saviour" of Whyalla during an interview with the ABC's North and West breakfast program.

"I've always been fascinated by the fact that Australia has all the natural resources to make steel but yet makes very little and exports and instead chooses to export iron ore and coal," he told listeners.

"So when the opportunity came to address that we were quite excited, we analysed it we saw a clear case."

He said the UK industry was focused on recycling.

"We have a very strong recycling business in Arrium, but we also have a clear opportunity for primarily steel making because Arrium has its own iron ore and of course Australia has also abundance in coal."

He said his company's immediate plans include investment in the steelworks' existing co-generation plant to bolster its energy capacity.

Medium-term plans involve redevelopment in steelmaking business, while longer-term plans were for expansion in energy generation, including renewable energy for the Whyalla operations.

"So we are already a substantial power company in the UK.

"We have 500 megawatts of operating power and another 500 megawatts under construction. Power sources range from coal to tidal to hydro to biofuel to biomass, wind. A whole array of power solutions, so we intend to use some of that to apply to Whyalla."

When asked whether GFG Alliance was in for the long haul, Mr Gupta replied "I've been doing this for 25 years and I haven't sold a business yet ... we are certainty in it for the long term".