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SAIL has rescheduled its 2020 long-term strategic plan to 2025 with a 5-million-tonne addition to its hot metal output target.
SAIL sources told Business Line the change of plan would mean qualitative and quantitative changes in tune with the global and local demand-and-supply scene for steel. According to C.S. Verma, Chairman and Managing Director of SAIL, ‘Vision 2025’ will steer the company towards a target of 50 million tonnes of hot metal output. A senior SAIL official said the earlier plan, approved by the SAIL Board in February 2012, aimed at 45 million tonnes by 2020.
The new plan, now in the works, will have to get the Board’s nod, too. Sources said that during the last few months, SAIL’s top officials and the Steel Ministry had reconsidered the time frame and revised the targets.
The new plan would meet the “the strategic objectives of achieving leadership in the Indian steel sector and a position amongst the top steel companies globally,” Verma added in a statement to shareholders.
SAIL already has the land and the other necessary infrastructure to expand its capacity to this level, he said.
The ongoing SAIL modernisation and expansion plan (MEP) targets raising hot metal output to 23.5 million tonnes from 14.3 million tonnes in 2012-13. In August, SAIL was able to add 2.5 million tonnes hot metal capacity. The balance would be achieved, Verma said, “in a phased manner” but did not mention a definite time frame.
More projects
Verma said SAIL commissioned projects worth Rs 5,500 crore in 2012-13 and expected to “operationalise” projects worth more than Rs 15,000 crore during 2013-14. “Under the MEP, cumulative orders worth Rs 58,151 crore have been placed till March 2013 and an expenditure of Rs 44,112 crore has been incurred.
“The company's capital expenditure during 2012-13 was Rs 9,731 crore,” the SAIL CMD said. The company’s debt-equity ratio has gone up to 0.53:1 in FY 2013 from 0.41:1 as on March 31, 2012, for increase in borrowings during the year to fund the capital expenditure.
“Notwithstanding the short-term dampeners,” Verma said he looked forward to “a buoyant Indian steel industry” in the near future.
jayanta.mallick@thehindu.com
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