Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) Chairman C. S. Verma on, Saturday, exhorted his sales force to focus on customers in rural areas, where incomes and aspirations were rising. “With per capita consumption of steel at only 15 kg in rural India, a vast potential exists for steel marketers to enhance sales in the segment,” he said while reviewing the performance of the eastern region sales force at the company’s central marketing organisation (CMO). The national average for per capita steel consumption is 57 kg. He said that an array of new products would come into the market on completion of SAIL’s massive modernisation and expansion programme, now under implementation, and the sales team could help consolidate the company’s market leadership through provision of more value-added products and services.