The Hindu : Business : SAIL blueprint for growth beyond 2010

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Friday, Sep 21, 2007
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SAIL blueprint for growth beyond 2010

Officials to visit Australia for coal assets negotiation

brightening prospects: S. K. Roongta, Chairman, SAIL, addressing shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) held in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: The Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) is well poised to play a vital role in the growth phase of the country with its highly skilled and committed workforce, largely captive raw materials, nationwide marketing network and available infrastructure to support further expansions. This was stated by SAIL Chairman S. K. Roongta at the company’s 35th annual general meeting held here on Thursday.

Cash generation

The company’s ‘strong financial performance’ in 2006-07 and in the first quarter of the current financial year “has contributed to enhanced cash generation and further reduction in debt-equity ratio” which “would provide a strong financial base” to support the modernisation and expansion programmes being undertaken by SAIL, he observed.

“To contribute to the growth of the Indian steel sector and maintain its leadership position in the domestic steel market, the company has prepared a roadmap for enhancing its annual hot metal production to over 26 million tonnes through modernisation and expansion programmes being undertaken in all of its five integrated steel plants. The project completion schedules are also being compressed to the year 2010, against 2011-12 planned earlier,” he told the company’s shareholders.

Paswan reviews performance

Delhi Correspondent writes:

An expert group comprising SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) officials will visit Australia soon for negotiations on acquisition of coking coal assets there as a part of their efforts to ensure raw material linkage. At a SAIL performance review meeting here on Thursday, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan was informed that while the steel major had been in touch with at least three coking coal companies with its focus on Australia, RINL was also looking at assets in Indonesia.

The expert team’s foray is following Mr. Paswan’s visit to Australia earlier this year when he had led a high-power delegation to explore opportunities of acquire coking coal assets in that continent as both the state-owned steel giants depend on imports for a major part of their fuel requirements.

During the review, Mr Paswan hailed the SAIL’s financial performance during 2006-07 and the first quarter of the current fiscal and noted that units that had shown improved performance year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter must be given some incentives while those lagging behind must be pulled up.

Stressing on accountability for slippages at the corporate headquarter or at the plant level, the Minister said plants achieving lower growth rates than the previous year for no justifiable reason should try to improve their performance in the second half of the current fiscal. He reiterated that all expansion and modernisation programmes must be completed as per schedule and a suitable penalty clause should be included in all contracts to avoid delay in implementation.

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