Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) proposes to increase the capacity of hot metal from 13.8 million tonnes per annum to 23.4 million tonnes by the end of 2013, according to its Chairman C. S. Verma.
Talking to The Hindu here on Friday, he said SAIL had embarked on a Rs.62,000 crore expansion and modernisation plan and orders worth Rs.57,000 crore were placed in this regard. Against this, an expenditure of Rs.38,000 crore was already incurred. The capital expenditure proposed to be incurred by SAIL during the XII Plan was Rs.45,000 crore as compared to Rs.40,321 crore in the previous Plan.
He said an amount of Rs.12,000 crore had been earmarked for modernisation this year. Salem plant’s expansion had already been completed and some of the major facilities in Rourkela would be ready in the near future. The coke oven battery and the largest blast furnace in the country would be operational in the Rourkela plant by November. The steel rolling mill at Bokaro steel plant, which had a trial run, would begin commercial production before the end of this financial year.
He said SAIL would soon come out with an expression of interest (EoI) for outsourcing operations and maintenance of a few coke oven batteries.
It proposed to set up a 10 million tonne capacity pelletisation plant and half of it would be through a joint venture or BOO (build, own and operate) basis.
He said the scenario for the steel industry in the country was not that gloomy in spite of the global economic slowdown and it was comfortably placed to meet the demand. Pointing out that steel companies were expanding their capacities, he said about 10-15 million tonnes of capacity was expected to be added this year. Mr. Verma, who is also the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of NMDC, said NMDC was planning to acquire overseas mines in Russia, Latin America and Africa. It had recently acquired 50 per cent stake in an Australian iron ore mine, Legacy.
He said NMDC proposed to double its capital expenditure from Rs.1,534 crore in the XI Plan to Rs.30,072 crore in the current Plan period. Such a big “leap in capital expenditure” coupled with expansion in mining capacity, setting up of steel plants and acquisition of mining assets overseas, would put NMDC in a “different orbit”, he added. He said the capacity of NMDC mines was 32 million tonnes per annum and plans were afoot to increase the same to 42 million tonnes in the next three to four years and to 50 million tonnes by 2020.
