SAIL Plans To Invest Rs 53,000cr For Expansion

Kolkata: Steel Authority of India (SAIL), the state-run steel company which has been given the Navratna status, has more than increased its investment in its corporate plan-2012 which was considered three years ago. The investment in the corporate plan will be Rs 53,000 crore to increase hot metal capacity to 26 million tonnes. Initially, an investment of Rs 25,000 crore was mulled to increase the capacity from 13 million tonnes to 20 million tonnes.

The investment in technology and sustenance of facilities across different locations would be around Rs 15,000 crore. The steel major has placed orders for modernisation and expansion of IISCO and Salem Steel Plant. The investment will be funded via a mix of debt and equity. The debt-equity ratio would be 1:1. The company is also looking for coal resources in Australia, Canada, Russia and Mozambique. It has formed a special purpose vehicle with five public sector units (PSU) in this regard. Alliance with ArcelorMittal on the cards SAIL is analyzing options for a possible alliance with ArcelorMittal.