STEEL MINISTER ASKS SAIL TO PRODUCE
ALL TYPES OF HIGH GRADE STEEL
Steel Authority of
India Limited (SAIL) must locate at least Rs. 1000 crore for improvement
and upgradation of production facilities of its plants so that
it can produce all types of high grade steel that India imports
from other countries today, said the Minister for Steel, Shri
Braja Kishore Tirpathy while reviewing today the performance of
SAIL during the year 2002-03. He asked SAIL to identify such products
and proceed in a planned manner.
The Chairman, SAIL,
Shri V.S.Jain briefed that the losses of SAIL declined substantially
by over 70 per cent during the year 2002-03 in spite of increase
in the cost of input materials such as coal, limestone and ferro
alloys. Net loss will come down by Rs. 1207 crore due to growth
in net sales realisation (NSR), higher production and better product
mix. The loss during 2002-03 was Rs. 500 crore against a loss
of Rs. 1707 crore during 2001-02.
The Minister
drew the attention of SAIL authorities to the fluctuating global
prices and restrictive measures adopted by many foreign buyers.
He asked the company to take best advantage of the current favourable
trends in the international and domestic steel sector and try
to stage a turnaround during 2003-04. He emphasised on higher
capacity utilization and achievement of production targets.
The Minister asked
SAIL to expedite its business restructuring package which would
go a long way in solving its problems. He stressed on completing
the ongoing projects like long rail facilities in Rail and structural
Mill in Bhilai Steel Plant, rebuilding of coke oven battery No.1
and upgradation of ERW pipe plant in Rourkela and reheating furnace
No.2 and rebuilding of coke oven battery No. 5 in Bokaro Steel
Plant on time. He desired that Durgapur Steel Plant should produce
axles and wheels to the 100 per cent satisfaction of the Railways.
Shri Jain briefed
that during the year under review, SAIL has set records on all
major performance fronts. It had highest ever sales of steel at
10.13 million tonnes, a growth of 6 per cent and highest ever
export of mild steel 8.5 lakh tonnes, a growth of 53 per cent.
Sales of its high valued items showed spectacular growth, rails
27 per cent, HR coils 25 per cent, CR coils 12 per cent and plates
10 per cent.
The saleable steel
production of 10.35 million tonnes during the year showed an increase
of 7 per cent over the previous year. It set records in hot metal,
crude steel and continuous cast slab production. It has also improved
techno-economic parameters by reducing the coke rate and over
all energy consumption.
The cost control
savings by SAIL during 2002-03 covered all the major areas of
operation and was about Rs. 451 crore. It has reduced its manpower
during the year by 10, 000. As rightsizing of manpower is an important
component of the restructuring package of SAIL, the Minister asked
to expedite the process in the current year to bring down the
expenditure on employees to a more competitive level.
