Shri Bajrang Power and Ispat plan to raise ₹700 crore through the issue of fresh shares via an initial public offering slated by the end of this month.

The company proposes to utilise net proceeds of the issue to prepay existing debt of ₹400 crore and become debt-free on a standalone basis besides using the funds for incremental working capital. On a consolidated basis, the company will have a debt of ₹180 crore.

Shri Bajrang has already invested ₹270 crore from internal accruals in the last two years to expand its capacity for sponge iron, steel melting, rolling mill, ferro alloys and captive power besides setting up a galvanising plant. All these projects will go on stream by March.

Firm’s products

The company currently operates three manufacturing units which are strategically located at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, which has abundant reserves of iron ore, iron ore fines, and coal mines.

It manufactures intermediate and long steel products such as TMT (thermo mechanical treatments) bars, electric resistance welded pipes, wire rods, hb (hard bright) wires including binding wires, ferroalloys, steel billets, iron pellets and sponge iron.

It has installed iron-ore beneficiation and palletization capacity of 2 mtpa and 1.4 mtpa, respectively besides a captive power capacity of 83 MW at its units including 50 MW from waste heat recovery. The company also has an installed hydropower capacity of 36 MW at Chamba in Himachal Pradesh.

Shri Bajrang has exclusive mining right on manganese ore mine at Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh to mine 13,114 tonne per annum. For coal, the company has secured coal linkages with South Eastern Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India, for annual supply of 6.03 MTPA on the basis of multiple fuel supply agreements.

The company uses lower grade iron-ore lumps and fines at its beneficiation plant to take advantage of the pricing differential between lower grade and higher-grade iron ore fines.

Access to integrated iron ore and manganese ore mines reduces cost and provides stability.

On the reason to become debt-free on a standalone basis, Srinivasan Manoharan, President (Finance & Accounts), Shri Bajrang said the company has been conservative and believed in growing the business with its own money rather than stretching it too long.

With some of the brownfield expansion completed by March, the company will generate more free cash flow for future expansion. Though the raw material prices have increased, the captive sourcing has helped to widen the margin and post better profit, he added.

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