BackSAIL board agrees for $2.6bn expansion plan
SAIL board agrees for $2.6bn expansion plan
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By Reuters
MUMBAI: Steel Authority of India Ltd. said todayits board had given in-principle approval for a Rs112.6 billion expansion plan.
The investment would nearly double capacity at the firm’s Bhilai steel plant to 7 million tonnes a year.
The state-run steel maker, which plans to raise its total output to 23 million by 2010 from 14 million tonnes now, said it produced 12.6 million tonnes of saleable steel during the fiscal year 2006/07 that ended 31 March.
Shares in the company were up 1.93 % at Rs113.30 at 0724 GMT, in a Mumbai market that was up 1.04 %.
It produced 25 mt of iron ore during the year from its captive iron ore mines.
The company also expanded its marketing network to 527 districts in the country through appointment of dealers, opening 16 new warehouses and 12 customer contact offices during the year for better customer services.
Public sector steel firm SAIL will invest ₹ 11,262 crore to nearly double production capacity at its Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) to seven million tonnes per year.
SAIL shares gained ₹ 1.75 or 1.57% at ₹ 112.90 during intra-day trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The company has appointed MECON as consultants for BSP’s expansion plan. This includes installation of a new blast furnace, new coke oven battery and a new sinter plant.
Post-modernisation, BSP would become a 100 % continuous casting plant with addition of a new steel melting shop of four mt capacity, it said.
BSP produces long steel products, including rails. The expansion plan envisages installation of a universal beam mill of one mt capacity to produce beams up to 1.1-metre depth. New bar and rod mill of 0.9 mt capacity will also be added.
To meet the growing demand from railways, a new rail mill of 1.2 mt capacity would also be installed, SAIL said.
The expansion at BSP is a part of the company’s growth plan that envisages capacity augmentation to 23 MTPA of crude steel by 2010.
SAIL Board has already given in-principle approval to investment proposals for expanding the crude steel capacity of IISCO Steel Plant to 2.5 mt and of Bokaro Steel Plant to 7 mt.
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