SAIL SAVES RS. 250 CRORE BY REDUCING COST

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A renewal cost reduction drive undertaken by the Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), a public sector undertaking of the steel Ministry led to savings of nearly rs. 250 crore during the first 9 months of the current financial year. During this period it has reduced its borrowing level of Rs. 371 crore over March 2002. Capital related expenses were brought down by rs. 168 crore during these 9 months through reduction in interest charges along with redeeming of high interest-bearing debts.

The four main plants Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur and Rourkela produced 7.34 million tonnes (MT) of saleable steel during April-December 2002, a growth of 7 per cent over the corresponding year last year. RSP led the march by recording a growth of 13 per cent during the period. The continued thrust on improving tecno-economic parameters helped SAIL reduce coke rate by 6 per cent and energy consumption by 3 per cent during the first nine months of the current financial year.

The company recorded an all-time high turnover of Rs. 13,097 crore during this period reflecting an improvement of 21 per cent over the corresponding period last year. . The turnover for Q-3 at Rs. 4,908 crore, was 28 per cent higher than that in the previous year and was an all time best performance.