ARS Steels and Alloy International Pvt. Ltd., a producer of high quality steel products, has drawn up a ₹360-crore expansion plan for its Gummudipoondi plant, near here, said a top executive.
“We are not impacted much by the economic slowdown as we deal in premium segment of steel,” Ashwani Kumar Bhatia, chairman and managing director, ARS Group, said. “We clocked in a revenue of ₹220 crore for the first six months of the current fiscal against ₹240 crore in the corresponding year ago period.”
Mr. Bhatia said the company was in the process of expanding its furnace capacity from 1.4 lakh tonnes to 2.6 lakh tonnes and that of the rolling mill from 1.80 lakh tonnes to 2.5 lakh tonnes. This would entail an investment of ₹60 crore.
Besides, the company has also decided to increase its power plant capacity by putting up an additional 100 MW unit at cost of ₹300 crore. With this, the total power generation would increase to 160 MW. It would be a coal-fired thermal power plant for which the group has adequate land parcel. Orders for boiler, turbine and electrostatic precipitator had already been placed.
According to Mr. Bhatia, the expansion of furnace and rolling mills would be completed by December 2020 and power unit by 2023 respectively. About 75% of the expansion cost would be met through borrowings.
Regarding the setting up of a unit at Hosur, Mr. Bhatia said that it was on hold due to the U.S.-China trade unrest. Initially, the unit was meant to produce for export markets.
