The Hindu Business Line : SAIL to begin work on blueprint for greenfield units

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), early next year, would start working on a blueprint for setting up of greenfield units alongside its existing five integrated steel plants.

The new plan would be an extension of the second phase of its current expansion programme, SAIL Corporate Plan 2012.

Sources said the top-level management of SAIL feels that pushing up capacities merely through de-bottlenecking exercises has limitations, as capacity cannot be expanded beyond a certain point.

Meanwhile, the National Steel Policy has already set an annual consumption target of 100 million tonnes by 2019-20 from the current level of 40 mt. The SAIL board feels that to reach that target the public sector giant, currently enjoying a 26-27 per cent market share, will have to play a crucial role.

The current capacity expansion plan, which would raise SAIL production to 20 mt, is considered inadequate and for further capacity augmentation, greenfield or at least brownfield expansion projects are considered to be the best bet.

The top management , however, does not want to rush with this project, for, before anything else, it wants to finalise the details of its on-going expansion programme. The board has decided that all crucial decisions regarding Corporate Plan 2012 would be taken before the end of 2006.

From next year onwards, the management would start concentrating on new projects, and Mecon could play a significant role in charting out the roadmap.

The Union Steel Ministry, also keen on SAIL's second phase of capacity expansion programme, has already directed the PSU to reduce the time period of SAIL Corporate Plan 2012 by two years.

"We would have to concretise the Corporate Plan by December, this year. Thereafter, we will start working on the new units, which would be really state-of-the-art, so that the quality of the final products can compete with that of the new players who are planning to set up units in India," sources said.

When asked about the locations of the new units, sources said these would be in and around the existing five locations, as these areas have several logistical advantages.

SAIL, it may be recalled, has already announced setting up of a new five mt per annum capacity greenfield integrated steel plant at Bokaro.

More Stories on : New Projects | Steel | Steel Authority of India Ltd

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